TruroYankee
New member
Yo Brats!
I have a 16 Cruiser and solved the singlehanded anchoring problem as follows: I have a 25 lb. hinged plow anchor with twelve feet of stainless chain. I put a small teak block in the rearmost part of the roller channel to keep the "handle" of the plow anchor pitched forward. I lie the chain along the starboard side of the deck beside the cabin, and pull the achor line through a sailboat jam cleat on the gunwale beside the helm to keep tension on the whole rig. This pretty effectively eliminates chain-rattling; if you keep the deck waxed there, there isn't any chafing. After tying off to the rear cleat, I coil the remaining line into a milk crate for a hamper. It holds the line snugly, drains well, and flies out smartly when needed. I fitted a teak top for the crate after cutting a channel for the line in the top rim so the top lies level. It holds 300' of 3/8" line. Strapped through the bottom and a couple of battery strap anchors in the floor, this rig serves as a convenient dockside stepdown, and an extra seat when underway. The upshot is the anchor is heavy and angled enough to drag the chain along the deck when you release it from the jam cleat. You can tie it off at the bow cleat after the anchor's set. It works well and I don't have to futz around at the bow and can handle most every aspect from the helm. I keep a 11 lb. Bruce with chain and 200' rode under the port seat. One advantage to the 25 in the bow is it adds weight up there to help maintain trim. Without it, coming up to plane from no wake speed gives me a fine view of seabirds and low-flying aircraft, but not much of anything else on the water directly ahead. The weight helps.
Peter Burgess
I have a 16 Cruiser and solved the singlehanded anchoring problem as follows: I have a 25 lb. hinged plow anchor with twelve feet of stainless chain. I put a small teak block in the rearmost part of the roller channel to keep the "handle" of the plow anchor pitched forward. I lie the chain along the starboard side of the deck beside the cabin, and pull the achor line through a sailboat jam cleat on the gunwale beside the helm to keep tension on the whole rig. This pretty effectively eliminates chain-rattling; if you keep the deck waxed there, there isn't any chafing. After tying off to the rear cleat, I coil the remaining line into a milk crate for a hamper. It holds the line snugly, drains well, and flies out smartly when needed. I fitted a teak top for the crate after cutting a channel for the line in the top rim so the top lies level. It holds 300' of 3/8" line. Strapped through the bottom and a couple of battery strap anchors in the floor, this rig serves as a convenient dockside stepdown, and an extra seat when underway. The upshot is the anchor is heavy and angled enough to drag the chain along the deck when you release it from the jam cleat. You can tie it off at the bow cleat after the anchor's set. It works well and I don't have to futz around at the bow and can handle most every aspect from the helm. I keep a 11 lb. Bruce with chain and 200' rode under the port seat. One advantage to the 25 in the bow is it adds weight up there to help maintain trim. Without it, coming up to plane from no wake speed gives me a fine view of seabirds and low-flying aircraft, but not much of anything else on the water directly ahead. The weight helps.
Peter Burgess