Setting a stern anchor is not for the faint of heart and can be a real pain. My friend Maurice Roper belongs to a club that always anchors in the same cove where anchors fore and aft are mandatory. After he got tired of messing up his inflatable dinghy’s transom and sponsons by dragging his chain and rode across them, he designed an ingenious stern bracket that makes setting and retrieving a stern anchor from his dinghy much easier.
The bracket is made of a 3/16in stainless steel plate bent into a U-shape. It is approximately 10in wide, 8in high and 2in deep, and will fit over the transom of most any dinghy. A 4in trailer bow roller assembly, available at most chandleries, is welded onto the back of the bracket and lets the chain roll smoothly up and over the transom. Maurice can brace his feet against the transom when hauling on the chain without it ever coming in contact with the transom. There is also a 2in straight pin welded to the front of the bracket. The chain can be hooked there when the anchor is stuck and Maurice has to row against it to dislodge it. It also holds the chain with the anchor dangling in the water while Maurice is rowing out to set it.
To guard against it jumping overboard, Maurice ties a safety lanyard to a D-ring on one side of the front of the bracket and secures the other end to the transom. He wants to add a matching D-ring to the other side so he can securely center the bracket by tying it off on either side.
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