Stowing anchor rode and chain the the forecastle

[pbryant]

Am I strange, or does it seem to anyone else that stowing wet chain and rode that reek of bottom mud inside the cabin is a bad idea?

That smell by the way is mostly hydrogen sulfide (H2S) gas created by anaerobic bacteria. It not only stinks and dribbles into inaccessible parts of the bilge to smell up the boat for weeks, but it is also toxic. At about 700 parts per million, you die much the same from it as from cyanide gas, and it causes cellular damage at much lower concentrations. Besides, it just stinks!

I stow my chain and rode in a laundry basket in the aft engine compartment, which is isolated from the cabin. I drop my anchor off the windward side at the cockpit, and then haul the rode with a snatch block to the bow. The point of tension is at the bow. I reverse the process to take in anchor, and can use the jibsheet winch to assist with unsetting the anchor. That method works fine, it's safer because I don't have to leave the cockpit, and the water, mud and stink stay isolated from my cabin. Unlike other boats I've been in, mine doesn't smell like Ode à la Sewer after anchoring.

But maybe I'm just strange.