20 has been dropped and the boat subjected to considerable side drift the anchor line 14a is restrained and guided over the rounded edges of the contoured legs 70 70 to prevent excessive transverse deflection which may otherwise allow the anchor line to become wedged between side members 36 and the roller faces 46 when the anchor is raised when hoisting the anchor 20 and stowing it as shown in fig8 the contoured legs 70 70 of the restraining guide 68 are interposed between the anchor head portion 24 and the roller rim portions 42 and serve as the lower stop or abutment when the hoisting or lifting force is applied to the anchor line 14a by the reel 18 to secure the anchor 20 in its stowed position the pivotal movement of the retaining loop 48 to its second position accommodates the placement of the anchor 20 in a gravitationally responsive inclination from which position the anchor freely drops clear of the anchor davit 10 back into the water upon releasing the hoisting force tension on the anchor line thus the anchor is remotely controlled by the reeling force to wind in the anchor line 14 and stow the anchor in a secure position and to instantaneously drop the anchor from the stowed position by simply releasing the tension or lifting force on the anchor line accordingly a positive responsive control is provided to raise stow and drop the anchor from a safe convenient location in the boat without the need to move about the boat to manually lower the anchor it.