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I am fed up with lugging chain and anchor forward every time I want to anchor up. I keep everything I need in the cockpit locker so as not to also have to lug it through the cabin. My current anchor is a 15lb CQR and it does not fit in the bow roller without a large overhang. I'm not sure what other F21 owners do but certainly I find this less than ideal as I like to fish as well as sail.

I have a chain locker in the bow unused, so I have decided to add a chain pipe and get a new anchor that I can fix either in the bow roller or to the pulpit. I have ordered a Fortress FX7 anchor at 4lbs. They are a tad expensive over here, but that will have much less weight in the bow roller or maybe clipped to the pulpit stanchion. I need to size it up to see which.

I'll post some pics as I get it all sorted out in case anyone else has the same issues.

First I fitted a cleat on top of the chain locker for the bitter end. Then drilled through the deck, which has a pronounced curve. Decided to place it here rather than just behind the stantion, where it is flat, as the rope will flake better if the pipe is centralised. I had to fettle the hole and pipe a little to get a firm fit, then bedded it down with some marine silicone and bolted through the deck.

Both rope and chain drop under their own weight and flake nicely into the locker below. Now I have to wait for the new anchor to see how I can fix it.

The fortress anchor has arrived and I had some time today to assemble it and figure out how to mount it on the pulpit. Have been looking online for stanchion anchor mounts but the only mounts I could find were "Bluewhale" and "Wind line", both from the US and at around $80 with another $50 in shipping and import duties. After a little thinking I came up with a simple but effective bracket that I put together with odds and ends from my workshop: a stainless steel rail clamp, 2 M6 bolts and an offcut of 4mm aluminium plate. I just place the flukes over the mount with the mud palms hard against the pulpit and then pin the shank to the bow roller... total cost £/$0!

The only reservation I have is whether the stock will interfere with the deployment and retrieval of the spinnaker. If so I'll just lower the clamp and drill a hole further up the shank, although that may void the lifetime warranty.

Is there a way to get more than 3 pics in a post? Here is the fourth.

Today I marked off the rode in 10m lengths with coded strips of sailcloth poked through the plait.
I then hauled it all onto Rockin and was and pleasantly surprised how easily it all flaked into the locker. I did check and compact the pile after the first 50m but the 10m of chain compressed the last 50m of rope nicely. So I now have 110m of rode stowed away in my chain locker. I'm well pleased with the result.