How much rode can I get into my anchor locker

[jooa]

Originally Posted by Don C L

I have a similar boat. The 1/2" is fine and adding the 50' should not be a problem. Do you have a photo of your anchor locker? Is it in the foredeck and does it seem full now?

My anchor locker has a vertical drop of 18", and currently have about 10-12" of clearance from the lid to the top of the pile. The recommendation is to have 12" of clear drop from the windlass to the top of the pile. I'm just barely in that recommended clearance.

[David Mathis]

Our 28' boat used 20' of 1/4" chain and 150' of 3/8" three strand. We never had a problem with it. Our 43' powerboat, which has a weight of about 4X - 5X the 28' uses 30' of 5/16" chain then 200' of 9/16" three strand.
Half inch or larger rode is overkill for your boat. A rode too large will eliminate the "cushion" gained from the ability of your boat to slightly stretch the rode during a surge resulting on more stress on the boat.

[R Hutcheson]

Another thing to consider is how the bow will handle the weight. 5/8 chain is pretty heavy, so are windlasses. You may want to consider a taking a couple of bucket of sand weighing the same as the net increase in weight of your mods and put it on deck centered where your installation will be. See what it does to your waterline before making a final decision. Also as a previous poster said, if the chain doesn't have adequate fall, a windlass is not going to work anyhow.