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..........................................--- New Rode Bags 2010 ---

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I'm gong to refer to anchoring a couple times on this trip as it is one of the most important things you will do safety wise and coming up with solutions that will work for you will make the trip much more enjoyable, especially on those nights that the wind goes over 30 mph in the middle of the night. We had two anchors on the foredeck, a 22 lb. claw, left above and a 25 lb. Manson Supreme on the right bow roller above. The claw as 30 feet of 1/4 inch chain and 200 feet of 3/8 3 twist nylon line and the Manson has 30 feet of stronger 1/4 inch chain and 200 feet of 7/16 line.

Anchored above only the claw was on the bottom, but we anchored on a Bahamian Moor with both anchors a number of times on the trip in some tight channels and the anchors never drug once and we had winds in the high 30's low 40's a couple times. We seemed to encounter mud bottoms on this trip compared to the rock bottoms we can have out west. If you only have the money for one good anchor get the Manson if you can afford it and then next the 22 lb. claw. Sooner or later you will encounter a night that you will be very thankful that you did. Also the 30 feet of chain is essential in making the anchor work.

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We have switched to soft sided coolers that have the plastic liners and sell for about $20. I love them. The liners keep them open so I can stuff line into them as I pull the boat to the anchor or Ruth motors us there. You don't have to coil it or anything, just keep stuffing it in and it always comes out free with no messing.

I punched holes in the bottoms of the bags with about a 1/2 inch round hollow hole punch and smaller holes in the backs (arrows) so that I could tie the bags to the pulpit and life lines so that they don't accidentally go over the side.

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I have the lines coded every 25 feet so I immediately know how much rode is going out. I just take electrical tape and double a piece a few inches long back on itself so that it sticks to itself and then un-twist the 3 strand line and insert the tape and then twist it back. This is fast and simple and easy to replace if the tape wears. I put 1 piece at 25 feet, 2 at 50, 3 at 75 and 4 at 100 and start over again at 125 feet. This is much easier and faster to read than the tape that has the numbers stamped on it and is really cheap to do. You can see some of the markings down in the rode back.

I don't trust the Velcro tabs on the top of these bags to keep the chain/line in during ruff water, so I put a few links of chain through the bag with a bolt on the inside (see arrow above). A couple links protrude out the front.

Also above you can see where I notched the top of the bag/liner so that the lid will close with the rode going out.

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I slit the stock tab in the front (arrow) and the last link sticks through and then a snap hook is attached. Now I don't have to worry about the top of the bag opening and the chain spilling out over the side.

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Above you can see the holes in the back of the bag with the line that ties the bag to the pulpit and life line. We now have a furler, 135 Genoa, with a Johnson lever on the bottom of the forestay. This raises the sail enough that the bottom of it clears the bags. With the old hank-on sails the sails would drag just a bit on the old bags we used without the plastic liners.

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