Anchors

[Frank C]

Frank, is this the anchor roller you bought, the BRM-2?
I notice you said you originally bought it for a Bruce, if you had it to do all over again with the Bull in mind, would you install the same roller?

I have a Claw that I wanted to stow on a roller. bought the BRM for ~ $80 in West Marine - I guess it's the same one. I also bought a URM the same day, and then compared them on the boat. It seemed to me that the BRM did a better job of holding the Claw away from the bow.

Would I choose BRM for the Bull? Not sure about that. I don't think one needs the BRM bulk out there to carry a Bulwagga, so the URM might be even better. The flukes are quite widely spaced, so it could stow closer to the bow without difficulty or risk. My boat is some distance away. I recommend that you measure from bow to anchor locker, go to West Marine with your tape measure, and pick the cheapest roller that will cover most of that bow distance, plus the BRM. One of those two will definitely carry a Bull adequately.

Installing a bow roller in a late model X is probably harder than the early models. This is because access is extremely limited. Remove the bowlight, dry-set the roller, test for anchor clearance, repeat, repeat, repeat, drill the deck holes, caulk and bolt it down, reinstall the bowlight (mine's still in a box). I also installed a backing plate that crosses from cleat-to-cleat, for the aft roller bolt. It's clearly a 2-person job, and took me a whole weekend, but maybe I was too picky.

The anchor roller is one of those deceptively magic mods. You know it should make life better, but you don't realize HOW MUCH BETTER, until that first time you're weighing 17# plus 15' of chain across that silky smooth roller.

Tying down the anchor? The Bull must be well-restrained for safety. If it ever fell from the bow under power, I can almost guarantee that it would grab. Your crew would fly forward as if you'd hit a wall, and no telling how much you might damage the bow, the pulpit and the cleats. It's really that dangerous. If it hit the highway, people could die! Bungies are an unsightly choice, but I've not yet bothered to finish it off. I'll find some way to pin it to the roller, or install a chainstopper.

[mgg4]

I've seen the recommendations for the Bull, and I'm considering that. To be honest, I just don't anchor out that often. Maybe if it was easier than dealing with the steel Danforth without a roller, we'd try it more often.

I've been looking at the Bruce-style anchors, and I'm considering going with a roller mounted Bruce-style. One thing that concerns me is the fact that I also have a CDI furler, so I have what I think would be an obstruction to the free movement of the anchor.

Does anyone else have a BRM mount with a 16.5# Bruce-style anchor, and also have the CDI furler? Do you have any problems with this configuration? How far did you offset your roller mount?

Thanks in advance.

--
Mark Galbraith
Mac26x "Offline" (2002)
Oakley, CA

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

Mine is close to what you asked to see. This mod shows my 16.5lb Bruce clone, the claw, on a URM-2 roller. The furler you see is on a CDI furler.

Make sure when you install the roller you have it sticking out enough not only for the anchor to clear but also for the shank to stop short of the anchor locker. The end of my Claw shank is about 2" forward of the locker lid which leaves just enough room for a shackle and a link of chain befor it drops down into the locker.

Picture

I cut out the front portion of the locker to allow my two chains to exit while still being able to close the lid. Be sure you epoxy the exposed balsa core.

I now have a good restraint system that uses two SS snap shackles to retain the anchors on board. The Guardian G-16 on the pulpit clips into the shackle that is attached to the pulpit with a SS pipe clamp. The Claw uses a shackle that snaps through its retaining hole. The shackle is on the end of a short pennant tied to the pulpit rail. The tail of the pennant is left long. With the tail untied the pennant slides along the rail. You just slide the penant forward, snap in the hook, slide the pennant aft to take up the slack and then tie the tail to the vertical pulpit support with a couple of quick half hitches. This system locks both anchors in place for both boating and trailering yet makes it easy to quickly deploy.

[mgg4]

Duane, what is the spacing between the forestay tang and the side of the URM-2 roller? In the side-view you posted (thank you for the pictures) it is hard to judge how far to offset the roller so that the shank of the anchor and the furler don't interfere with each other.

--Mark

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I left about a 1/2".