Unless the well is compartmented in some way, storing more than one anchor in the well is likely to result in a rat’s nest of tangled line, complicating - perhaps dangerously - both the setting and retrieving of the anchor. The ideal anchor well is no deeper than is necessary to hold a single anchor and its rode. Fortunately, it may not be too difficult to improve upon it. Surprisingly, many production boats still have this type of anchor well. And to top it off, many boats carry a significant amount of water in the well in heavy weather, water located in the worst possible part of the boat when handling is the hardest. In heavy weather, the anchor and chain can pound hard against the hull of the boat, and could conceivably cause structural damage in some conditions. With a deep anchor well, all the gear ends up in a tight little pile at the bottom, wedged into the vee formed by the stem and the topsides at the bow.Ī deep anchor well invites back problems, as it is almost impossible to avoid bending over into the well to retrieve the anchor and chain. While this may be the simplest form of enclosed anchor well, it has a number of shortcomings. Usually, a small hole was drilled in the stem to provide a drain for water finding its way into the well through the deck hatch. A large hatch cut in the deck and hinged on one side provided access. Most early anchor wells were created by installing a bulkhead in the bow of the boat about three feet behind the stem. Whatever its source, most of those condemned to handling anchors on the pointy end of the boat will rank improvements in ground tackle handling right up there with the wheel, the ice cube, and Mt. Like the development of the wheel and the discovery of fire, the anchor well lacks a specific point of origin. We don’t know who gets credit for the modern anchor well. But it is only in the last decade that they have become standard features on production boats, and it will probably be still another ten years before most of the wrinkles are ironed out, to judge by some of the boats we’ve recently examined. In some form or another, they have existed since time immemorial. Of course, neither the anchor well nor the self-stowing bow roller are new. But even these developments vary greatly in quality and design, some creating more problems than they solve. Two “modern inventions” - the anchor well, and the bow roller - have greatly eased many of the problems of ground tackle stowage. A significant portion of the interior volume of a 19th century warship was given over to the storage of anchor rode.Įven aboard modern boats, the search for the proper stowage of several anchors and chain, plus hundreds of feet of sometimes slimy nylon anchor line, is one that occupies both designers and boat owners. The solutions have been endless, and as a rule compromises. Ever since some ancient mariner broke a toe tripping over the killick stowed in the bow of his curragh, sailors have sought to solve the mysteries of ground tackle stowage.
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