Ocean Alexander 548

[Boatnut]

I recently purchased an Ocean Alexander 548 with 350 feet of 3/8 anchor chain. The chain piles to the top of the chain locker making it difficult to retrieve the anchor when alone. Is there anyone with a solution besides using less anchor chain?

 

[John R M]

Try searching the forum, this issue has been discussed recently.

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. Congrats on your new boat. Yes it can be a problem if the rope locker isn’t deep enough. Maybe redirect the chain further aft with some sort of slide???

 

[jhall767]

Unfortunately this will be worse with rope instead of chain. That's about the recommended length for that type and size of boat if you are a cruiser. If you need to get down an anchor for a blow in 25-30' of water to get 10:1 scope you need 300' of rode.

You really need to properly stow any rode that is that long anyway. Even with a deeper locker it still piles into a cone that will fall over when you hit larger seas and will be next to impossible to deploy the next time. On a manned crew boat this usually means one deckhand below deck stowing the chain.

Can you move the bulk of the chain away from the hawsepipe so that the last 100-150' only accumulates there? That's all you'll use 95% of the time.

 

[Codger2]

I recently purchased an Ocean Alexander 548 with 350 feet of 3/8 anchor chain. The chain piles to the top of the chain locker making it difficult to retrieve the anchor when alone. Is there anyone with a solution besides using less anchor chain?

My boat,an OA 42 Sedan, has 322 feet of 3/8 chain. If I don't have crew to move the chain as it's coming in (with a stout stick!) It does tend to pile up but never gets to the top of the locker. My next effort will be to use a cone (Traffic cone ?) to see if it negates a "stick person."

 

[firehoser75]

As Jhall said, I had the "pile of chain" fall over once, and it was not a fun time at all
Has anyone actually tried the traffic cone idea, and if so, did it work??

 

[tiltrider1]

If your boating is restricted to our normal Seattle to Ketchikan waters you have more chain than you need. The easiest two options are;

1) remove 50’ of chain.

2) play out all the chain while you have help. Then slowly bring in the chain carefully spreading it evenly around the locker. From then on you shouldn’t need to use more than 100’ in our local waters, this should feed in and out with out any issues.

 

[Codger2]

Play out all the chain while you have help. From then on you shouldn’t need to use more than 100’ in our local waters, this should feed in and out with out any issues.

That's exactly what I did about 3 months ago but haven't had a chance to confirm success or the lack of it yet.

 

[FF]

To keep chain useful the chain locker needs a deep narrow box .

The dimensions are in many boat design books.

Skeens is a favorite.

https://www.amazon.com/Skenes-Elements-Yacht-Design-Eighth/dp/0396079687