my wife goes through the hatch and i hand her the anchor...it's not really a big deal even on a pretty windy day.

i've done it by myself (wife handing me the anchor)

Throw the anchor over the side of the boat, and hand the line up to your first mate on the bow to tie off.

BTW, the Box Anchor is the best anchor for this. You don't have to "set" it. You just toss it in the water.

On my 242 SS, I would launch and retrieve the anchor from the bow. It was a total PITA doing a pole vault over the windshield each time. Eventually, I built a custom anchor locker up at the bow, just behind the lifting cleat.

That way, I only had to vault over the windshield myself, not carrying the anchor/chain/rode.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...dbd822d4d9.jpg

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...fcb6c6697b.jpg

A windlass would be ideal, but I think it would take away from the looks of the boat.

That looks really well done. How long did that take you to make?

Tp, i remember you doing this project it did come out great, i just don't have the balls to take a saw to my deck.

Is this the consensus anchor for a F311 in (mostly) sandy bottoms (Gulf of Mexico)?

All of my time in the gulf I've always used a danforth style. Whether the brand is hooker or danforth isnt really a big deal. I keep onboard 3 16-22lb anchors, all with a minimum of 6' of chain. When we go to blue Angel's or something else where I may not be around the boat the whole day it sure is comforting to know it isnt moving in any direction.

Copy all.
One of our major goals/plans for returning to P'cola is to do the Blue Angel airshow(s) by boat!