Anchor Rode Locker

Cruising around the Caribbean on our 42-foot Hatteras Convertible, we always seem to be anchoring in the middle of a fleet of sailing yachts, all of whom anchor with chain. Our all-rope rode (except for a six-foot shot of chain) caused us to swing at anchor in a wide arc and this invariably got us in trouble with our sailboat neighbors. We switched to a windlass that could handle rope and chain and used 90 feet of chain backed up by 100 yards of 5/8" rope, only to discover we had a new problem. Any time we encountered rough seas, the chain would knot with the rope in the locker. The next time we went to anchor, it would take a half hour to sort out the mess. To fix this problem, we epoxied two strips of 12" x 11/4" x 11/4" mahogany at a downward angle to the inside of the bow in the rope locker. We then cut a triangular piece of 3/4" plywood in a shape that would fit inside the locker with each side resting on the mahogany strips and in place under the winch opening. Holes of 3/4" diameter were drilled in this piece for drainage. Now when we haul in the chain with the winch, the chain falls on the plywood and fills up the newly created upper recess, rather than landing on top of the rope, which is now neatly coiled in the lower part of the locker. In the unusual event that more than the 90 feet of chain is needed to anchor and the rope is put into use as well, on retrieval it's necessary first to remove the plywood triangle and manually coil the rope in the lower compartment. When all the rope is in place, we reinsert the plywood triangle. That way the chain, when being hauled in, fills up the upper compartment without needing further handling.