Anchoring a small cuddy cabin

[Ironic]

Hi all. Been a big fan, lurker, and student of these forums for a while. I've not been able to find any topics on this subject, so thought that I'd ask the experts...

I have a 20' cuddy cabin (it's an *ahem* Renken *ahem*) that is my first cuddy. I have yet to put it in the water, but all systems are "go" on the muffs after some work. I bought this boat for two reasons...we like to visit some islands in the bay up here in Maine and we like to listen to the weekly waterfront concerts from the river rather than amongst the heathens. This boat will serve both purposes.

That said, both purposes require anchoring. One in a river and one in mild (2' seas) waves. I have read enough here to know that the anchors needed for these trips will be different. No big deal.

My question has more to do with the boat. On the river, I had typically taken my 16' Starcraft and had no problems with throwing a couple of mushroom anchors to keep me in place. The Renken will require a bit more effort to keep me in one place. I know that I need a suitable river anchor with a suitable length of chain.

What I don't know is...how do cuddy people do this? This boat doesn't have any gear at the bow that could be used to drop or raise an anchor. It's going to be completely manual. But how do I do it without beating the snot out of my boat with the chain? And where do we stow all of the anchoring gear? If I'm anchoring in 25 fow regularly in a slow moving (3 knots) river, I've got to figure this out, I suppose.

 

[FunInDuhSun]

Cuddles can be difficult depending on how they're laid out.
You may be able to tend the anchor from a cabin hatch.
With my Wellcraft Nova I keep a line attached to the bow eye and pulled tight to a cleat near the cockpit. When anchoring I tie the anchor rode to the bow line and drop it over the side. No chain.
I stow my ground tackle (anchor, line on a reel) in a compartment next to the engine.

 

[Ironic]

I should mention that I can squeeze my arse through the hatch and am still nimble enough to get up on the bow. Just wondering how people drop hundreds of pounds of anchor and chain without tearing up the rub rail or gelcoat.

 

[FunInDuhSun]

I use a Fortress FX16 on my 23 footer. Good for a 30' boat and lighter than s steel anchor for that size boat. Holds great in anything but grass.

 

[Ironic]

Thanks for your help.

You use the FX16 with no chain at all? That would be a bit of a game changer for me. I was more concerned about storing 20' of chain close to the bow than the anchor.

 

[Watermann]

Here are some ideas from guys who have closed bow boats.

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/owne.../634709-1976-holiday-18-mercruiser-120/page68

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...t-holiday-reno-and-hull-repair/page3?t=517895

 

[tpenfield]

My previous boat, being a 24 ft cuddy without a walk-through windshield nor an anchor locker, did not have good access to the bow. I stored the anchor, chain & rode in the ski locker. When deploying the anchor, I would take the anchor, bundle up the 10 ft (or so) of chain and toss it over the side. Then, walk the rode up to the bow (stepping over the windshield) where I would feed out enough rode, go through the bow chock and cleat it. Not the best method in the world, but it avoided carrying in an awkward manner over the windshield. The retrieval sometimes required pulling the whole thing up onto the deck . . . so I used an old beach towel to avoid scratches to the deck in those instances.

A 20 footer would probably need a 13 lb anchor and 10-15 feet of chain. So, maybe you are throwing 25-30 lbs over the side (not 100's)

 

[redneck joe]

My anchor stores on the bow like the pic below (not my boat) then a locker for the rope and chain. As stated, probably 10 feet of chain. Do you have room to block off the inside to make a locker? Otherwise drop off from the rear of the boat and walk the rope to the bow, let your desired lenth out, tie off and set anchor.

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgur...9bMAhVC8x4KHXsdClsQMwhVKDAwMA&iact=mrc&uact=8

 

[spoilsofwar]

I have a 20' cuddy. There is a pass thru windshield with a step up to the foredeck, or the cabin hatch could be used.

I use a greenfield coated fluke anchor (slip ring style) and 12' of coated chain (it's two 6' sections shackled together). The vinyl coating they put on the chain protects the hull during recovery, which is all manual of course on a boat this size. The rest of the anchor rode is rope. I could never use all chain, despite the obvious benefit, since it'll tear your boat all to heck.

Do you not have an anchor locker on the bow?

 

[shrew]

............. Just wondering how people drop hundreds of pounds of anchor and chain ............

20ft. of 1/4 G3 chain is about 15lbs. For a 20 ft. boat, you'll be somewhere around a 15lb anchor. Even an additional 100 ft. of line is only a few pounds. You will be nowhere near 100lbs with your setup.

Did you mention you'll be in 25 ft. of water. at a 5:1 ratio, this is going to be around 125 ft. of rhode. (7:1 = 175 ft.)

If you plan on anchoring regularly, look into installing a bow roller. This will make life significantly easier. Without a bow roller, I would use a milk crate.

Tie the bitter end of the line to a cleat, then load line from the bitter end first into the milk crate, end with the chain on top. the anchor will be small and can probably fit into the crate as well. Untie the bitter end and walk the milk crate to the front. Tie the bitter end to a cleat again. Pick up the anchor and deploy it UNDER the rail and pay the chain out from the create by hand. Then start paying out line. Tie the line off to the cleat, then untie the bitter end. lash the remaining anchor line to the rail.

Reverse the process to retrieve it. You're essentially using the milk crate like an anchor locker.

You tie the bitter end to prevent the entire setup from accidentally going over the side.

 

[Thalasso]

Hi all. Been a big fan, lurker, and student of these forums for a while. I've not been able to find any topics on this subject, so thought that I'd ask the experts...

I have a 20' cuddy cabin (it's an *ahem* Renken *ahem*) that is my first cuddy. I have yet to put it in the water, but all systems are "go" on the muffs after some work. I bought this boat for two reasons...we like to visit some islands in the bay up here in Maine and we like to listen to the weekly waterfront concerts from the river rather than amongst the heathens. This boat will serve both purposes.

That said, both purposes require anchoring. One in a river and one in mild (2' seas) waves. I have read enough here to know that the anchors needed for these trips will be different. No big deal.

My question has more to do with the boat. On the river, I had typically taken my 16' Starcraft and had no problems with throwing a couple of mushroom anchors to keep me in place. The Renken will require a bit more effort to keep me in one place. I know that I need a suitable river anchor with a suitable length of chain.

What I don't know is...how do cuddy people do this? This boat doesn't have any gear at the bow that could be used to drop or raise an anchor. It's going to be completely manual. But how do I do it without beating the snot out of my boat with the chain? And where do we stow all of the anchoring gear? If I'm anchoring in 25 fow regularly in a slow moving (3 knots) river, I've got to figure this out, I suppose.

Use the below system shown and you wont beat the boat up

https://youtu.be/nrbYe1rHcV0



https://youtu.be/40nz7HVwcOw

 

[Ironic]

Thank-you for all of your help.

I do have an anchor locker, but it seems too small for the anchor that I thought that I would need. I guess that I need to buy the proper anchor first then try to squeeze it in.

I've seen a couple of good ideas that have been posted. Year one will probably be more of hauling the whole rigging by hand and trying not to beat up the boat, and you guys have helped minimize the damage to the boat.

Seriously...who buys a boat without researching the iboats forums?

 

[bruceb58]

I have an anchor locker that is too small too. I use a Fortress anchor and have a stainless shackle that I attach it to my anchor line when I anchor.

I am just careful to keep the cahing away from the rubrail of the boat when I lower it.