Anchor retrieval

[dxg4848]

I have my M for a few years now. We sail on Lake Erie. We anchor frequently to go for a swim. I manually drop and retrieve the anchor. I am wondering if somebody did any mods to make anchor retrieval easier (than pulling it out by hand). I searched mods section with no results. Any information is appreciated.

Thanks.

[Russ]

I've seen lots of solutions to this.

Honestly, I don't find this process that difficult. If you think about how an anchor works. The flukes dig in at an angle. The long angle of the rode keeps it from getting yanked out and in fact digs in deeper. That's why more anchor scope is preferred to keep the anchor holding well.

So take that principle and think about how to make an anchor NOT work well. Make the scope be zero. That is the rode directly above the anchor at 90 degrees. Now the flukes are being pulled UP. The "arm" of the anchor will provide leverage to pull the flukes out. For well seated anchors, apply some power and drive over the anchor in the opposite direction it is set and it will dislodge. Then it's just muscle power to lift it up.

Happy anchor. Drive over top of it and it loses it's holding power.

--Russ

[dxg4848]

This is true, but we do all kind of mods to make sailing easier and safer like running lines aft, roller furler, single-line reefing, etc. Ideally I would like to be able to retrieve the anchor from the helm area by driving right above it and operating some mechanical (or electrical device). I was just wondering if something like this was done already.

[Russ]

An electric windlass will do it. Powerboats use them often. They require a lot of electricity (battery in the bow). They also require and anchor locker to hold the rode. Our Macs don't really have this.

You could put a bow roller on and pull the anchor line back to the cockpit. I've seen this done and it's a fairly simple mod.

Some more complicated mods require more holes.
Eric did this.
http://www.enctrader.com/hardtlefamily/ ... efault.htm

mms://208.180.16.65/BattleshipAnchor.wmv

A bit more work than I want to do.

[dxg4848]

You could put a bow roller on and pull the anchor line back to the cockpit. I've seen this done and it's a fairly simple mod.

I didn't think about it, but it might be what I am looking for. Thank you very much for advice!

[Russ]

Others have mounted the anchor on a rail by the cockpit and dropped/retrieved it from the cockpit. That's another idea.

I have a bow roller. It's a nice place to store my claw anchor and keep it out of the locker and ready to deploy.

[JohnCFI]

Run it over the bow roller and along to one of the Winches, it's what I do with my heavy anchor and chain.. I saw the suggestion for this by someone else on here..

[dxg4848]

Run it over the bow roller and along to one of the Winches, it's what I do with my heavy anchor and chain..

Another good idea. Thanks!

[DrV]

I pull the anchor out with hands, and it is always OK, except for two cases
1) when the bottom is with rocks and stones... sometimes the anchor gets caught between stones, and it is real PITA to pull it
2) once, I tried to anchor in the sea where there was a strong current along the shore, and also some fairly strong wind. Waves were not that big - maybe couple of feet, afair. Boat was jumping on the waves, being pulled by strong current, and waves were hitting at nasty 45 degrees angle. It was not just unpleasant... it was really painful when I was trying to pull the anchor out. Hull was going up and down, and I tried to pull again and again. I even considered to cut the anchor off. Pulled it out somehow. Don't want to do it again. I wouldn't try to anchor in case there are BOTH current and wind+waves.

So, second situation I will try to avoid by not getting into it. But what about the first - rocky bottom? I sail in Turkey, and I noticed that locals are always using some additional float attached to the anchor (and probably some additional line to that anchor). I think that float both permits to see where anchor is, and also somehow helps to pull it out in certain conditions.

[drams_1999]

I have struggled with this in the past, and while mods are nice they aren't really necessary for this.

As was suggested, run the anchor line over the bow roller, then aft to one of the winches. You can preset the line before releasing the bow cleat. Release the bow cleat. Crank down slowly until the anchor comes loose, (may take some time depending on how much line you let out), then proceed forward once it comes loose (the boat will start to drift) and raise it the rest of the way.

This works for me in any wind/wave conditions I have encountered.

...or use the Iron Genny to motor over the anchor and break it free, as someone also suggested.....but that's cheating

I haven't tried it but I'm sure you can use a modified version of this procedure in reverse to anchor from the cockpit as well, if you preset the anchor on the roller and run the line aft to the winches.

Good luck!

[bartmac]

We are fitting a drum winch....as there's not enough deck or under deck area to store rode....only option was a drum winch....ie a retrieval and storage system

[Russ]

...or use the Iron Genny to motor over the anchor and break it free, as someone also suggested.....but that's cheating

Nope. That's not cheating until you hoist your sails. So motor over that thing and pull it up.

--Russ

[Paul S]

how heavy is the anchor?

On our 38' boat, ours is 35# and we can lift it quite easily without a windlass. If you get over the anchor and pull straight up, it will get free, and bring it on board. Shouldn't be a problem. We have a FX11 on our M, effortless recovering it.

what is difficult about it? breaking it free? raising it up? storing it ?

[DaveB]

On our MacX I have mentioned in past to put a 3 inch roller on your bolt that holds the mast at bow and run the anchor line tru it and cleat at stearn wrapend around Sheet winch. Easy pull out. Rubber roller is same type for trailer.
Dave

Run it over the bow roller and along to one of the Winches, it's what I do with my heavy anchor and chain.. I saw the suggestion for this by someone else on here..

[NiceAft]

You guys are making me blow the cobwebs out from between my ears. The solution has been posted on this site before. Someone was building an anchor hoist which was located below deck. Now I have to remember who did this.

Ray