Sailing in the Mediterranean we needed a stern anchor for our 10m (33ft) Moody Eclipse, Aderyn Glas, so before we left Port Napoleon in southern France we fabricated this bracket.

The construction is based on a commercial anchor tray, some stainless steel tubing and a couple of homemade brackets to attach it to the transom bulwark.

So, where to put it? The obvious position was the corner of the pushpit which gave me a solid railing to bolt to and a secure area of transom for the base of the uprights.

The only issue was to keep it clear of the davit on the port side, but luckily that was simple enough.

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Ironically, most of the harbours and marinas we visit in our chosen sailing area in Greece have ‘lazy lines’ or a convenient tree to tie to, but we have used the stern anchor to stop us swinging and hold the bow into the swell, for example.

So does it work? A resounding ‘Yes’. The stern anchor lives on the trough so is out of the way, we rope it down to stop it falling off and shackle the inboard end. Deploying it takes only a minute.

How to install a pushpit bracket for a stern anchor – step by step

Commercially available anchor trough with the pulley (which is the outboard end) bolted through.

To the other end of the trough we fitted this block of oak to protect the metal when the chain rattles through.

The brackets were fitted to pre-drilled and tapped holes then a nut was fitted under the transom.

Bolting the uprights and their brackets to the outboard end of the anchor trough

The outboard end showing the uprights and brackets and the close proximity to the port davit.

The only bits I had to make; just a simple block of brass (yes, I know about electrolytic corrosion!).

The brackets at the inboard end fix straight on to the pushpit rail.

The outboard end of the trough was mounted on the uprights with these commercial brackets.

Add a good old plastic container to keep the chain and rope in, and the Delta anchor in place and roped on.

The final assembly

When we need extra grunt we use the sheet winch. To keep the rode away from the sprayhood struts I added an extra pulley

David and Ann Berry have sailed their Moody 33 Aderyn Glas extensively in the Mediterranean

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