Newbie question about dropping anchor on a closed bow.

[htuong95]

Hi,

I am getting a boat soon. It looks like an old 16' starcraft fiberglass boat. My question is how do I drop the anchor? Do I have to climb over the windshield and stand on top of the bow? That is kind of dangerous considering I can't swim. How do you guys drop the anchor with a closed bow? The boat will be used mainly on the river fishing. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Hong

 

[pjrogers]

Re: Newbie question about dropping anchor on a closed bow.

Well, you could anticipate the need to drop anchor by securing a line to your bow eye and then safely tailing it back into your cockpit where you've decided to store your anchor. But that won't work well at all b/c you won't know in advance what conditions you'll be anchoring in, so you won't know in advance how much line in addition to your anchor chain you'll need. And this won't in any way address how you will retrieve your anchor.

Looks like you need to get up on the bow after all. Don a pfd, tie a safety line around your neck, I mean to your pfd, kneel or sit or lie on your bow, and don't stand up. People, even non-swimmers, do it safely all the time.

 

[Coors]

Re: Newbie question about dropping anchor on a closed bow.

Red Cross offers cheap swimming lessons; if you have a boat, you need them.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Newbie question about dropping anchor on a closed bow.

you can't see it very well in the picture, but my bow cleat is close enough that i can reach it from the cockpit. there is a rope guide on each side of the boat. i will keep my anchor and line under the bow, when needed i will deply from the side, use the boat pole to manuver the line into the guide, and secure to the cleat. when retriving , reverse.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Newbie question about dropping anchor on a closed bow.

A closed bow boat should have a mooring bitt on the bow and a cleat at the very front to thread the line through.

A mooring bitt looks like this (althought this one is very expensive):

So you drop anchor, reach over the windshield and attach the line to the bitt (I tied a loop at the end of the line that just fits over the bitt, but can't come loose by accident), then toss (or use your boat hook) to thread the line throught the mooring cleat at the stem of the boat. Thats it. No jumping in the water, and no climbing over the windshield.

You can see the setup on this pic of my boat. Ignore the fact that I am standing in the water

 

[htuong95]

Re: Newbie question about dropping anchor on a closed bow.

Thanks guys for all the information. You guys just solved my problem.
Thanks again!

Hong

 

[Scaaty]

Re: Newbie question about dropping anchor on a closed bow.

Bolt another cleat just in front of the windshield. Put a good backing plate under it..(nice boat!!)