Anchor rode locker for Ericson 27

[AleksT]

I have purchased an Ericson 27 and I would like to know if anyone has put a hatch in the deck at the bow to store anchor rode in the little space that is in front of the vberth. I would like to have my anchor and rode accessible at the bow in case of emergencies. An anchor probably would not fit inside that space but I could hang it off a bow roller (which I don't have yet) or mount the anchor on some sort of deck fitting. I don't have an anchor yet either unless it is sitting at the bottom of the dock box. I only got the boat a few days ago and still have not had time to go through all the stuff that came with it.

My main concern is that a hole or hatch in the deck at the bow could weaken the structure of the boat.

 

[AleksT]

Always in the last place I look

Just posted about an anchor rode storage and then found a few solutions on various threads.
I still would like to hear any thoughts on putting a hatch in the deck to access the space in front of the vberth.

 

[Emerald]

I'd keep the anchor mounted externally on the pulpit and just use a hawespipe. I think you'd find that there really isn't enough room to have the hatch large enough and keep the anchor and rhode all together in the space provided. Part of my thought is that you should be able to rapidly deploy the anchor if needed in an emergency, and it could become quite the mess with out any real working room to try to have it all below in that space. Also, I think this is a key area for strength as the deck, hull, forestay attachment etc. all come together at this point, and the E-27 is not overly large e.g. there's not a lot of material left over after you cut out the foremost portion of your deck.