wouldn't try to pull any anchor without one. The port anchor has 300 feet of 3/8 chain and a 45 pound Delta and the stb. has 300 feet of 5/8 nylon and a light weight Danforth. I use the same kind of lazy jack type stack pac that Ed uses and have found that it makes sail working pretty easy. We have several friends that we met while out cruising that are well into the 70's and who are still going strong without the use of mast or boom furling but use some form of lazy jack sail cover combination such as mine and Ed's. I believe that hand rails mounted on our boom have saved my butt more then once while moving around the deck so you might consider installing them as well.