Genius!

.....Michael

Thanks Michael, that means a lot coming from you.
It’s fun to come up with off label uses for common objects but I always worry they look half baked. I’m naming my next boat The Expedient.

Cheers,
E

Heck, I ain't no genius.  Not even an idiot-savant...you know...like Rain Man (great movie, now on Netflix streamimg).  I'm more of a moron-savant, which is not anything like as dramatic as being an idiot-savant.  Plus, which, I am living proof that it is laziness, not necessity, which is the mother of invention.  <;-)

.....Michael

   Extremely elegant. May I ask for more details regarding the white material used, its source, and how this was machined?

Facing the same issue...

Mark

Thanks for the question Mark. It's high density polyethylene (HDPE) or some such and probably rankles the purists. It started life as a cutting board. The handle came in, well um, handy. There were a bunch on clearance somewhere for $2 each. The plastic machines like wood except easier. Hand planes, routers, hand or table saw work great. Never rots, tough as heck. You can order it by the sheet in many sizes and densities but it gets expensive quick.

If you click the thumbnails in albums you'll go to another view which includes pretty extinsive caption info.

Cheers,

e 

Very nice. I just completed my Northeaster Dory and have the same anchor- so this is quite timely. Thank you for posting.

A question: will you use the port side cleat to secure the anchor when deployed. I have been pondering the optimal location to secure the anchor. The bitter end of my anchor rode is attached to a stainless bolt in the mast step. At first I was going to cleat it off the bow, but don’t fancy going around or over the mast partner to get there.

Safe sailing, 

Derek

Derek:

If you have some sort of bow line rigged to the stem, you could use that to tie off the anchor rode as you pay it out over the side from farther aft.  Just turn a sheet bend into the working part of the rode with the bow line once you've got the desired scope payed out (leaving some of the standing part aboard), and then let it run on over the side until the bow line takes up the strain.

When it's time to weigh anchor, you can just haul up on the standing part of the rode until the bow line comes back in over the side, untie the sheet bend, and keep hauling.  Eliminates the need to be futzing about up in the narrow bow of the boat while the anchor rode gets up to rope tricks behind you, plus which there is nothing to chafe, since the anchor rode is slack where it goes over the rail.

If the diameters of the lines differ much, you could put an alpine butterfly (or other manrope knot) in the standing part of the anchor rode and make a sort of sheet bend on the loop with the bow line  Just putting a rolling hitch on the anchor rode with the bow line would work, too; that's how they generally hitch a bunch of sailing dinghies to a single tow line when the wind dies and the club launch comes out to collect the becalmed racers in time for coktail hour.

My first boat was a Highlander which had no cleats or other deck hardware.  I asked the previous owner how he anchored, and he responded that he never did.  That explained why his ground tackle consisted of forty feet or so of dog leash polypro rope indifferently tied directly to smallish Danforth anchor.  The only place to rig a bow line was the eye in the stem for the trailer winch.

I figured the rest out from there.  I've adapted the method to my PMD as well, but, by all means, if you have proper cleats and fairleads available at the bow, which you can come at without putting her down at the bow enough to make her tiddly, use those.

.....Michael

Derek, what a great question. And as usual Michael nailed the answer. First time I read that description I had a hard time understanding it. There’s no wind today and I don’t feel like doing laundry so I made some pics for you.
The cleat is through bolted on the bulkhead. It doesn’t take any anchoring force but it doubles as a docking tie up. There’s a matching cleat on mizzen mast partner.

Here's what a proper setup looks like:

Don't do it like this, force needs to go from bow line to stem of boat

The bow line needs to be pretty long to make the circut. It's about three times the distance between stem and cleat.

There are more pics with captions at the link earlier in this thread.

Hope it helps,

e

   Thank you so much Gramps and  Silver Salt. It works great! Once I figure out Flicker I will post some pictures of Tropaia at anchor. 

Looking forward to seeing those!

.....Michael

   Sooo…
I just posted a couple of pics of my new anchor park location. It frees up the forward seat for rowing. But wait, there’s a funny part.
If you’ve looked through the other galleries you may have seen my compass  mount at the mainmast. Was sailing for several days and though to actually measure my windward ability. Going as close hauled as possible my heading was SW on port tack. My starboard heading came up as due South close hauled. Initially I thought Awesome!!! tacking through 45 degrees!
But then came to my senses. Pretty quickly realized putting eight pounds of steel anchor and 15 feet of chain directly under your compass is maybe not the best practice. Don’t be like Silver Salt! Guess it’s a good thing the fog had lifted before I set out ;-)
I’m actually tacking through 90 degrees as verified with a hand bearing compass. Not bad for a lug rig I think, what do you say Michael?
At least now I get to figure out a new location for my compass.

What do I say?

1 - Your anchor setup looks great!

2 - ...except for the compass business, which is, if I'd seen that your compass was on the mast that close to the anchor, I might have warned you about that, not that you didn't figre it out pretty quick.  <;-)  Heck, I'd want the compass closer to me, anyway, and maybe down lower.  I only glance at the compass from time to time; I generally hold my course by looking at something far ahead with only occasional referrences to the compass to make sure somebody hasn't moved my lighthouse.  Also, I prefer being able to look at the compass card from above, if I can; seems more relatable to me than reading off the rim somehow, but, different ships, different long splices.

3. If you are able to lie 4 points (45 degrees) off the wind close hauled and she doesn't complain about being pinched, I'd say you have mastered the mysterious art of correctly setting a balanced lug, which is, there is no reason a well cut, correctly set (for given wind conditions) balanced cannot sail well tacking through 90 degrees in resonable conditions.  My had is off to you, sir!

I wish you all joy of your weatherliness in sailing off lee shores when you can and being able to anchor reliably off them with your fine looking ground tackle set up if things get really chancy!

.....Michael