On one boat our anchor would not fit in the anchor locker so I used a Water Hog door mat on the bow and lashed the anchor down on top of it to avoid marking and chipping the deck. Worked really well and the mat was very heavy duty.. The anchor was never disconnected just brought back onto the deck with the chain still attached. Our current anchor fits perfectly in the anchor locker and comes off the bow every time we are on our mooring.