Dedicated deck access sail locker?

[Zach]

Hi,

I'm seeking pictures and installations of sail lockers that have their own deck hatch. I've got a Luders 44, that has a rope locker at the very pointy end and a 5 foot or so area aft and ahead of the V-berth that was originally used for Pipe Berths on the Navy sail trainers.

I'm thinking about a water tight bulkhead ahead of the V-berth and a deck access sail locker so that I can keep the wet stuff off the v-berth.

Looking for advice and opinions about such an arrangement. I don't have roller furling, and for the moment aim to keep it that way... Luddite I guess.

Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions.

Zach

[sy_gilana]

We have just that and we love it. There are a ton of photos on our web page.
Get a BIG hatch. Put the windlass over the deepest area possible ahead of the hatch.
Fit lighting inside it. Put two bilge pumps inside there, with manual switches nearby.
We have 100m chain, 50m chain and 100, nylon rode, 13 sails, spare cap shrouds and forestay, spare outboard motor, surfboard, all our fenders and docking lines, all running rigging for spinnakers etc, buckets, anchor ball and motoring cone....
Good idea!

[Stumble]

I love them, but on a 44' it might take up a lot of usable space. These type of lockers (aft lazarettes as well) tend to start appearing in the 50' range. If you can accept the loss then I would absolutely recommend them.

Not only for anchoring gear, but other large bulky items like fenders, deck cushions, line, ect. The one problem with actually putting sails in them is that sails really need to be kept dry, and sail lockers are often anything but.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by Zach

Hi,

I'm seeking pictures and installations of sail lockers that have their own deck hatch. I've got a Luders 44, that has a rope locker at the very pointy end and a 5 foot or so area aft and ahead of the V-berth that was originally used for Pipe Berths on the Navy sail trainers.

I'm thinking about a water tight bulkhead ahead of the V-berth and a deck access sail locker so that I can keep the wet stuff off the v-berth.

Looking for advice and opinions about such an arrangement. I don't have roller furling, and for the moment aim to keep it that way... Luddite I guess.

Thanks for the thoughts and suggestions.

Zach

Not a bad idea if you never intend to use that pipe berth space. I have a watertight bulkhead on our steel pilothouse cutter, and the first seven feet aft of the bow is a workshop/sail locker/chain locker. My bows are bluff enough to keep concerns about weight forward minimal, and reaching down to grab things (you can adjust or create hooks or racking to organize all your foresails for quick access) is a real boon.

Personally, I think V-berths are inappropriate on passage for most folk, and I prefer to have work space forward.

[JPA Cate]

We have such a locker, but it is not as big as the space you are considering allotting to yours. Ours is about 3 ft. x 3 ft. x 5 ft. It holds a lot: one huge awning, one beat up stays'l, the spinnaker and its turtle, the anchor ball, bucket for it and snubber line, and four 3 ft. x 18 Fenders, inflated, and one large round fender I'm too lazy to go measure.

Maybe you can do a sail locker on the port side and a work bench with drawers under on the stbd side?

Yes to water-proof bulkheads. I love knowing we have them, one aft of anchor locker, the next aft of sail locker. and one astern, as well.


Ann

[psk125]

One concern, if you're using a space that had pipe berths in it, might be that it could get really deep and hard to get things out from the bottom. You could consider stowing anchor chain in a lower tier, with a hawsepipe to the deck, and keeping the sails within reach by building a shelf or grating over the chain.

[Terra Nova]

A deck-access-only locker and crash bulkhead are both excellent ideas. But be careful not to store a bunch of weight in the ends of the Luders. Keep heavy stuff on top of your keel, in the middle of the boat, and away from the ends.

One boat I've sailed on quite a lot is the Cheoy Lee Lion. Sails were hanked on--loved it! This boat had a fiberglass hull and deck with a lovely teak overlay on decks and side of house, with teak hatches. One of these went to a true sail bin. It had a very tiny opening, though I could climb inside. And it was mainly used for flying the spinnaker, where you launched and doused it directly from/into the locker. It was a wonderful feature. But it was impossible to keep stuff dry and to dry wet stuff. It needed its own pair of full size dorade boxes with large cowl vents!

I'd consider some net hanging bags or hammocks to keep sails organized without trapping moisture. Maybe a solar vent in the hatch.

[robert sailor]

Excellent feature in a boat, love to have one but our boat is just not set up for it.

[Zach]

I appreciate the insight.

What size hatches do you guys have?

I have a spare 24x24 bomar hatch, but after doing some studying, it would not be large enough to push the genoa through in folded form... or the 27 inch diameter poly ball fenders.

I'm thinking about building a decent size access hatch for it, perhaps 2x3 feet or 3x3. Namely it would be nice to store a storm anchor with deck access rather than trying to hoist at 65-80lber out of the cabin. I tore up a good bit of paint on the way out the companionway with the 65lb danforth a few weeks ago...


Thanks,

Zach

[Cheechako]

I had a couple forward of the cabin on the foredeck of my 44 footer. Wet, moldy smelly boxes. Hard to make watertight. Mine had drains with hoses and seacocks. OK for anchors but I would never put a sail in there.