A25 bowsprit/anchor roller

[DesertAlbin736]

Kerrye PM'd me the other day asking about my anchor roller setup. Here's some pics of what it looks like now.

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Wish I could shorten it even more than this, but previous owners used 5200 adhesive on the wood, and short of taking a Sawzall and a grinder to it, it ain't going anywhere including the winch.

Photo below shows the way it was when we first bought the boat, before I chopped 16" off the bowsprit. 36" of overhang was bit much with no rigid bobstay to support it I thought. As it is I left just enough room between the bow roller and the winch to keep the chain stopper in place. Now it's 20 inches from the bow to the end of the roller. Photo taken 2 years ago at Wahweap Marina on Lake Powell, where we put the boat in the water for the first time on the way home from picking it up in Idaho. Unfortunately we had problems getting the raw water pump to prime & the engine kept overheating (turned out to be a air leak from a crack in the raw water strainer), so that's all we could do, get from the ramp to the marina & didn't get chance to do anything else on Lake Powell. We hadn't renamed her "La Dolce Vita" yet, it was still named "Nowell's Ark" after the PO's last name. Must have been fun trying to refuel from those 5 gallon jerry cans without causing a fuel spill. So much has been added/changed on the boat since then, new name, new hard top, new canvas, new raw water strainer, standoff rods added for the davit system, outboard motor bracket added, dinghy daggerboard trunk rebuilt.

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[kerrye]

Thanks for the pictures. I'm guessing the previous owner moved the water fill to allow the anchor roller to be centered. Strange place to carry extra fuel.

[DesertAlbin736]

I'm guessing the previous owner moved the water fill to allow the anchor roller to be centered. Strange place to carry extra fuel.

I would agree it's probable that the water fill fitting was moved. After all, it would be easy to do. Previous owner(s) did a lot of strange things with this boat. I didn't get that whole jerry can location thing either. The immediate past PO spent a lot of time cruising on Lake Powell where access to fuel docks with diesel is pretty limited. But the internal 20 gallon fuel tank gives a range over 200 miles at reduced speed of 6 kts with 0.4 GPH consumption rate on 15 gallons with 5 gallons reserve, so go figure.

[smacksman]

I never quite understood why you need a 'bowsprit' at all. Or a windlass for that matter on a < 35 foot boat.
The anchor gear is so light - 15lb to 25lb. anchor + 5/16" chain - you might as well just have a stem roller and bow rub plate or hang the anchor on a bracket on the pulpit. If the anchor is stuck then a turn around a samson post and motor it out, otherwise haul it in by hand. So much quicker.
Even better would be an anchor well with a deck hatch and the whole lot, anchor and chain can be dropped in.

[JT48348]

If you don't have a bowsprit how can you stand out in front and scream "I'm on top of the world!"

[smacksman]

Was that holding on to Kate Winslet just before you hit the iceberg?

[DesertAlbin736]

Like I said, I wanted to remove most or all of the bowsprit & just have the roller. But the genius who installed it used 5200 adhesive in addition to through bolts, it's pretty permanent short of major surgery. Between that and the swim platform with dinghy on davits overhang it puts my LOA to about 29 to 30 feet. It does have hawse pipes to drop the chain and rode into the forepeak.

[smacksman]

I've found hawse pipes work best when there is a few feet drop between the deck and the pile of chain below.
On my Albin27FC, the distance is too short to shake out any twists in the chain and it jams in the hawse when letting go.
This jamming is a real pain when anchoring single handed having to go below into the fore peak and unravel the twist as you gently drift down onto other boats in the mooring field!
My expensive Simpson & Lawrance windlass works beautifully apart from the jamming chain.
The result is I drive around all day with 20 feet of chain on deck. Foolproof but messy.