I have a leak from the chain locker that goes under the V-berth, under the forward
water tank, around the
mast step, then into the
bilge near stern. It's frequently full of
anchoring sludge, which gets dragged under my
cabin sole leaving a trail of Chesapeake mud. Eu de Chesapeake, indeed.
This leak is due to 3 things going into the chain locker wall - forward
water tank fill hose, green grounding wire, and the previous attempt at an
anchor locker drain hose that goes towards stern...which the previous owner put into a milk jug sitting in the
bilge so he could toss muddy water out separate from regular bilge water.
See photos.
These 3 things were caulked (mystery stuff) through the
fiberglass bulkhead that separates the chain locker from the rest of my
boat. It
leaks and I want to stop it.
I'm going to seal this sucker up by glassing it securely on both sides. But how do I drain the locker safely? I do *not*want another hole in the
boat outside using a thruhull. Besides, the
anchor locker bottom appears to be below waterline.
a) I can rerun the ground wire, easy
b) I can reroute the water fill hose to forward tank, I think
c) how do I design the
anchor drain?
Should I glass in a hose connection to connect a drain hose to go to the bilge and continue with the milk jug method to collect mud water? How do other designs handle this?
Photo is attached.
Separate question, for anybody skilled with
teak or who have down
cabin sole work:
I'd like to regularly inspect the flat bilge area underneath the
cabin sole, forward of the
mast. Is it possible to remove 4 of the
teak boards and form into a removable
inspection hatch? I'm no woodworker, so this may be something I need to hire out
Anybody ever attempt anything like that? How hard is it? There is a
hatch exactly like I want but it is aft of the mast.
I'm sort of obsessed with being able to regularly access / inspect things.
-Gene