Stem damage from anchor

I have a GB 36 classic. The stem has sustained damage from raising/lowering the anchor. Is there a metal guard commercially made that can be installed on the stem to prevent this? What do other people do?

First off you should be getting that much damage there. Unless it's from year and years of anchoring.

The kind of protection you are talking about has to be custom made to form to the hull. Unless you get very lucky and find someone with the same model boat that has had one made and has the pattern.

I'd ask that question on the GB owners forum. You never know.

It will have to be custom made, but it is not that difficult as it is usually just a precision bent SS guard. Given the length of the anchor roller, I wonder if perhaps there is some self inflicted damage. I think if you learn to manage the anchor retrieval you will not hit the hull. Our anchor roller is only 7 inches from the hull and we rarely hit the anchor guard. Bu we have learned how to manage the retrieval of the anchor to limit hull contact and damage.

You can install your own guard by screwing some strips of either hard wood or some of that plastic material UHMW I think we used to call it. You see it on lots of boats, commonly on Nordic tugs. It can be made to look good and it does the job and wont cost a fortune.

I anchor from the Stem, not the stern. The anchor bangs on the stem either going up or going down. Either way I'm sure that the main problem is our technique which we can change. I was just wondering if anyone had this same problem and whether they had found a commercially produced metal strap that could be affixed to the stem which would take care of situations where you have to get the anchor up or down quickly and the damage that occurs in those occasions.

Good question. My new anchor fits great, but unless I stop the windless at exactly the right time the top of the anchor hits the forward edge of the anchor pulpit and will eventually chip the gelcoat. I was thinking a piece of angled SS strapping would solve the problem. I can't make it, so need to find someone that can. Then there is the issue of attaching it. My guess is SS screws would be best but what about 5200?

David, this is because your anchor comes up through a slot in the actual bow fitting, rather than onto a roller assembly mounted on top of it. Your stainless strip idea would work, but as you say, not that easy to obtain or have made.

What about fashioning your own from a softer, easier worked, non-rusting metal like aluminium, rather than stainless steel..? That can even be cut with good tin snips to get the size and fold points right, then just glue or screw it in place for easy replacement if it wore through over time. I would think the OP might be able to do the same thing with a larger sheet, suitably shaped then folded round the stem, then drilled and screwed it in place. That high up, water entry is not a problem.

Is that a common GB36 occurrence, or is there something unusual or modified in your set up? I can`t imagine GB designing a boat that allows it to happen, though I can see the GB stem is more vertical than my IG stem, and dhays NP43(see avatar pics).

BruceK said:

Is that a common GB36 occurrence, or is there something unusual or modified in your set up? I can`t imagine GB designing a boat that allows it to happen, though I can see the GB stem is more vertical than my IG stem, and dhays NP43(see avatar pics).

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Also, a good point Bruce. His bowsprit appears to be plenty long enough to avoid bow to anchor contact. I don't think I've ever had my anchor touch the bow and yet there is not that much clearance.


It might be a technique thing..? I know I stop my retrieval several times just before and after it breaks the surface to minimise swing, and let it settle down and back to the vertical before bringing her completely up and over.

Tennis balls on the flukes work well.

Bryant said:

I anchor from the Stem, not the stern. The anchor bangs on the stem either going up or going down. Either way I'm sure that the main problem is our technique which we can change. I was just wondering if anyone had this same problem and whether they had found a commercially produced metal strap that could be affixed to the stem which would take care of situations where you have to get the anchor up or down quickly and the damage that occurs in those occasions.

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If it is just the front angle of the bow, the PO of my boat had one added down the angle of the bow to help deal with the logs that we have floating around here. You might check around with local boat yards and ask about that.