The installation of the bow/anchor roller was one of the most involved/ambitious projects thus far.
From initial delivery, I totally disliked the fact that there was no area to stow an anchor, rode, and chain on this model Trophy. As this is an essential piece of equipment on any boat, I initially used the fish locker (located in the floor between the helm seating) to store the anchor and rode for the first couple of trips.
After purchasing the required hardware ( Lewmar anchor roller and Lewmar anchor lock), I decided to go one step further and install a separate self-draining rope locker. In order to accomplish this I pre-fabricated a fibreglass panel and sized it in order to divide the bow storage area to allow for a rope locker. The panel was then fibreglassed in, in order to ensure the rope locker was completely sealed from other areas in the v-berth cabin below.
Unlike the factory installation on other boats, stainless steel and aluminum backing plates and generous amounts of 3M 5200 adhesive was used during the installation. This will ensue the strength required, as well as being water-tight, where required.
The following pictures are of the finished product. In my opinion, I think it looks pretty good (maybe I should email Trophy and give them the idea for future models of the 1802).
As you can see, I installed another stainless steel cleat for tying off the anchor rode. A Perko rope deck plate was added to allow the anchor rode and chain to gain access to the rope locker. A 5 inch Sea Dog (as per factory use) screw-in deck plate was installed to allow access to the rope locker.
The factory had used a single combination bow light that had to be removed to allow the installation of the anchor roller. As a replacement, I purchased a set of Perko horizontal mount side lights and installed them in the exact same manner as they would be installed at the factory for other Trophy models (as you have probably noticed, I am pretty concerned with keeping the factory appearance with the modifications, as I will go the extra mile and ensure to purchase product brands that Trophy uses in the factory production).
A quick look at the rope locker. You can see a bit of the fibregalss panel that was installed and then light grey gel-coat was applied to match the factory finish. Inside, there is ample space for 300 feet of rode and chain combination.
Above, a Perko mini clamshell vent was used to give the factory finish look to the drain for the rope locker.
Another view of the finished product from a different angle.
Note: In order to increase strength and to tie together both the roller and the anchor lock, I obtained a piece of 2 inch stainless steel plate and inserted between the bower roller /anchor lock and the fibreglass deck. In addition, I bent and welded a piece of 1 inch stainless plate to the forward part of the 2 inch stainless plate in order to accomodate the angle between the deck and the rub rail (this will also increase the strength of the forward end of the anchor roller as the downward force on the anchor roller will be transferred evenly on the foredeck).
