How do you keep an anchor and its rode at the ready if you don’t have an anchor locker up at the bow? It’s a common challenge for owners of older cruising sailboats in the 22- to 30-foot range.
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As owner of an F-24 trimaran with a very shallow anchor well, a few more thoughts:
* The F-24 well was designed for Danforth-style anchors. It holds that plus enough rode for shallow waters, but Danforth and Fortress anchors are known to trip in wind and tide shifts. They do not suit all bottoms. Thus, they are not great primary anchors, even if day sailing and going for a walk on the beach. It will also hold a Northill, which comes apart in seconds. They are more versatile, but they can trip in the wind or tide change more than about 270 degrees (exposed fluke).
* I keep my actual primary anchor (alloy Excel) hanging in one the amas. It really is just as convenient as the bow locker. The Northill in the bow locker is secondary, unless I am on rock or weed, where it excels. It take only a few seconds to walk it to the bow. A cockpit locker would work, if the anchor and rode were not buried.
* My first overnight boat had a locker I could keep rode in, but no anchor. I kept the anchors below, with about 10 feet of chain on them and a non-locking carabiner. In use, I used the carabiner to connect the chain to the rope portion of the rode. This sounds horribly unreliable, but in fact, it never once disconnected. Non-locking carabiners can disconnect when twisted on a fixed eye, but in fact, they almost never come loose when between two flexible attachments, like rope. Rock climbers put a lot of faith in this. A locking stainless carabiner would be pretty safe for smaller boats (aluminum locking carabiner cannot handle seawater–they jam). I suspect sand would be a problem. Obviously, shackles work, but they are only reliable if safety wired. Because I was using Danforth/Fortress anchors in a tidal area I normally deployed two, part of the reason I did not stress over the carabiner coming loose. But it never did.
Wherever you keep the anchor, it should be ready to hit the water within a minute at most. Quick anchor deployment can save the day in the event of an engine failure at a key moment. This has happened to me several times, and quick anchoring always worked; use your momentum to coast in a safe direction (a quick 180 may be required), and get the anchor down. I’m not a believer in stern anchors for this reason; you need to stop the boat before the anchor will bite.
Good article and helpful comment.!