Patent ID: 7484469

Claim:
A bowsprit assembly for raising and lowering an anchor from a vessel surface, the anchor having a main shank coupled to a rope, the assembly comprising: an elongated U-shaped frame member having an aft end arranged to receive and releasably retain the main shank of the anchor when the anchor is not deployed and a forward end rigidly connected to the aft end and depending downwardly therefrom at an acute angle; the frame member having a base member that is generally horizontal in use and a pair of upwardly extending sidewalls spaced normal to the direction of elongation of the frame member, the sidewalls having upper free edges and lower edges that are joined to the base member along a portion of the length of the sidewalls; the frame member forming an anchor rode path extending in the direction of elongation of the frame member that is above the base member and between the sidewalls and extending from the forward end to the aft end; a first roller rotatably mounted between the sidewalls and adjacent the lower edges of the sidewalls to lie immediately beneath and adjacent to the path at the forward end of the frame member; and a second roller aft of the first roller along the path, the second roller being rotatably mounted between the sidewalls and adjacent to the lower edges of the sidewalls to lie immediately beneath and adjacent to the path formed in the frame member; means for maintaining the spacing between the sidewalls at the forward end; wherein the means for maintaining the spacing between the sidewalls comprises an elongate member extending between the sidewalls; wherein the elongate member extends through an aperture in one sidewall and has an end that is releasably affixed to the other sidewall; wherein the elongate member is threaded at the end that is releasably affixed to the other sidewall; and a locknut located within a complementary-shaped aperture provided in the other sidewall and releasably engaging the threaded end of the elongate member.