Hunter 42 CC Passage anchor mess

[K1MGY]

I purchased (mistake?) a very used and poorly maintained Hunter 42 CC Passage, vintage 1993. When reviewing this boat, I did not pay much attention to the anchoring setup (definitely a mistake). Now that I have to use it, I consider it a mess.

Here's a photo showing the windlass:

When raising the anchor, the rhode and chain cannot drop quickly enough into the locker, so it invariably winds up and binds the windlass capstan. Awful!

I need to convert this arrangement into one that will provide single-handing features... anchor drop and raise by the same windlass, and from the cockpit ideally.

I'm hoping someone with this same arrangement reads this and might offer some ideas. Maybe this arrangement is supposed to work? Maybe I'm not using it properly?

Thanks for any help!

/mark