Anchor locker plugging up

[Redline452]

Originally Posted by rognvald

And, for those who mentioned spray-cleaning the rode . . . who is going to take the time to spray clean their chain in 30 knot winds with a 35-60 pound anchor swinging from the bow?

That's what the Autowash V2.0 is for... better seen from the other side, but you get the idea. The hose is green, the nozzle black with an orange knob on top. One can stand clear of the spray with the windlass remote.

Autowash V1.0 was actually developed on my previous boat, where I raised the anchor (with its 30' of chain) by hand, sitting with my legs in the anchor well. A clip holding the hose on the pulpit took care of cleaning the chain while I used both hands to haul it in.

(Frankly, if I could think of a way to package this as some sort of a product, I would).

[Boatyarddog]

Originally Posted by rognvald

Boatyard,

This doesn't work and it will cause a dangerous potential to permanently flood the anchor well when debris clogs the mesh(instantaneously). This will add extra weight to the bow (in addition to your chain and rode) depending upon the depth of the anchor well and the amount of chain you carry. It potentially could cause your boat to be unevenly balanced in a heavy seaway when taking water over the bow. I have been down this road. There is no danger in having a 1/2" I.D. through-hull, or larger, for this purpose since water cannot travel uphill. And, most boats have much larger through hulls for their cockpit/deck scuppers. This serves the same purpose--drain water from the boat. It is a common practice that boat manufacturers do not outfit their boats with cruising sailors in mind but rather for the weekend warriors that comprise the majority of boaters. These are things you discover quickly when living aboard and cruising full time. Good luck and good sailing.

It probably won't help much to increase the drain hole to 1/2", as shell and other stuff will still enter, that stuff will get stuck in 1" as well.
Really the best solution is to check this area regularly and clean it out, the mesh is to block out the possibility of trapping stuff further down the tube,
Since you are a regular cruiser, you know the pros and cons of not checking the boat and lockers on a regular basis.


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[roland stockham]

The bow, like the rst of the hull should be watertight! A little spray may get through the hause pipe even when stuffed with a rag but that is all. Apart from the obvious danger you identify constantly slucing you ground tackle with (warm?) salt water will greatly shorten it's life. the ideal is to have a grill at the base draining directly into a bilge sump, but the the ideal is also to sore chain below the water line and as close to the mast as possible where it becomes extra ballast not a liability.

[Jetx]

When you do the permanent fix, maybe use something like this:

Bronze Deck Drain

or

Flush Deck Drains

Then again, maybe just "bigger" is the best answer.

[IolantheSF]

Forget about the whole drain fitting, hose, seacock, through-hull thing. If your anchor locker is high in the bow like most, give it a big drainage scupper on each side and glass it all as strong as the hull. Now your entire anchor rig is on the "outside" and you have zero moving parts, and clogging is unlikely.

[landonshaw]

The anchor locker goes below the water line. Very deep. I have a wooden platform that I built to hold the chain up from the bottom. I will put a bigger drain hoe in and get a snake to put through occasionally.


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[SeaSon]

If you anchor a lot, you'll eventually be in thick greasy mud and shell, perhaps constantly. I installed an anchor wash (house and nozzle) for my all chain rode as buckets can never do this job. And counter to a prior post, a salt water rinse on a chain used in salt water can't shorten its life.

To solve the last 5pct of crud that goes in the anchor locker, I bought a flexible solid wall laundry basket, cut it to size, and cut a couple large drain holes in the sides an inch or so up. The crud settles in the bottom of the basket, and I can pick the whole thing out to rinse it over board.

It all works perfectly.

[deblen]

Originally Posted by landonshaw

The anchor locker goes below the water line. Very deep. I have a wooden platform that I built to hold the chain up from the bottom. I will put a bigger drain hoe in and get a snake to put through occasionally.


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landonshaw-If your locker goes below the waterline,I can see why it is rigged with a hose drain. That hose must go to the bilge & then pumped overboard??
I have to question that design-seems like a chance to flood bilge if everything doesn't work as planned.
Is your deck hatch watertight?? Even so,it could be torn off in bad conditions or if not latched,etc.
Since you have already put a platform/floor in the locker,why not consider glassing a permanent watertight bottom at that floor level & also glassing the bulkhead. Then you would have the equivalent of a collision bulkhead & would not have to worry about water in the locker getting into the boat. Of course you would still need drain(s) & regular cleaning as mentioned by other posters. If you brought a really dirty chain aboard during snotty wx,you could at least wait until conditions were better to clean out the mess & drains.
Two 1/2" - 1" thru hulls-one each side of bow located at bottom rear of watertight locker would be an easy solution.
What does it matter if some water sloshes in & out these drains while underway?? The locker is watertight to the main hull.

Cheers/ Len

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by deblen

landonshaw-If your locker goes below the waterline,I can see why it is rigged with a hose drain. That hose must go to the bilge & then pumped overboard??
I have to question that design-seems like a chance to flood bilge if everything doesn't work as planned.
Is your deck hatch watertight?? Even so,it could be torn off in bad conditions or if not latched,etc.
Since you have already put a platform/floor in the locker,why not consider glassing a permanent watertight bottom at that floor level & also glassing the bulkhead. Then you would have the equivalent of a collision bulkhead & would not have to worry about water in the locker getting into the boat. Of course you would still need drain(s) & regular cleaning as mentioned by other posters. If you brought a really dirty chain aboard during snotty wx,you could at least wait until conditions were better to clean out the mess & drains.
Two 1/2" - 1" thru hulls-one each side of bow located at bottom rear of watertight locker would be an easy solution.
What does it matter if some water sloshes in & out these drains while underway?? The locker is watertight to the main hull.

Cheers/ Len

I quite agree with Len in this! An anchor locker that goes below the w/l and has either overboard or bilge drains is a bad design IMO. His solution resolves the drainage problem and increases the seaworthyness of the whole bow in the event of a collision.

Go for it!

Jim

[zeehag]

JUST CLEAN YOUR GEAR BEFORE STOWING. heezooz. is no r hard tomaintain limber holes and such... use a skewer to clear out the easy stuff, send water thru tomake sure itis clear and patent. then after cleaning your anchor and chain, stow it. why stow dirty stuff. makes no sense. rust happens with stowage of dirty chain . stink happens with dirty chain on a pile in a hole. that pile in a hole is usually near the vee berth or forward sleeping chamber.

[zeehag]

so many folks sailing and so few actually CLEAN their anchor gear as it comes out of water. makes a huge difference. bottom belongs on bottom, not inside boat.
it stinks inside boat with that on the chain .
it only makes sense to clean as you stow it. cleaning removes the bs you are complaining about inside your anchor locker. try it. it works.
in 30 kt winds, i stay put. after wind is diminished i will pull anchor.. and i LOVE sailing 30 kts.
NO ONE pulls anchor in 30 kt winds unless they are on a schedule or dragging anchor, in which case they trying to reset the thing, not pull it out of mud.
itis easy enough to brush the chain with a brush and use a bucket while pulling anchor.
if you are dragging anchor the chain will be already clean, as it is stuck in nothing. unless you anchor in silty muck. then itis always dirty and nasty.;
i put away my chain dirty once--never again. now i brush it off well with water from under boat.



if you are PLOWING seas, you have a heavy bow and need to lighten the load up forward.

[landonshaw]

Here is an issue with a wTer tight anchor locker at least in my case. The electric windlass for the anchor is attached to the deck in the anchor locker. If it did not drain I would have had the motor totally under water. I just replaced and am happy I drain out of the locker before it is covered. The locker actually drains through screw holes that in previous year held stuff to the bulkhead. There is also an opening that wires run through.

[landonshaw]

I like the comment on putting in a floor above the water line and then draining from tharpt with two through hulls above the water line. Goog solution. Thanks

[deblen]

Originally Posted by landonshaw

I like the comment on putting in a floor above the water line and then draining from tharpt with two through hulls above the water line. Goog solution. Thanks

Some pics of the locker on my 28.The boat was built in Denmark with a fiberglass collision bulkhead & no hatch to the vessel interior,so no smell & no danger of flooding.They mounted the propane tank,reg. & solenoid in the anchor locker & there is no other place on vessel for it,except maybe hanging off aft rail. So,officially it is a propane locker for insurance. A drain hole went out thru the stem at bottom of locker & we partially filled the locker a couple of "burying the foredeck" trips. The deck hatch was never intended to be watertight & that adds to the locker flooding.My solution was plugging the stem hole & installing two 3/4" SS thru hulls out the sides.I also made a plywood removable floor with large drain hole & it sits a couple inches above the glass locker floor & the side drains.This allows some slosh to help keep drains clean & dampens the force of water driven in through thru hulls.It also does a safer job of draining a propane leak if one occurred.I could add a second f-glass separator between the propane gear & rode storage area but that would still not satisfy ABYC as the drains are still common to both areas.So I have added a shelf for propane tank above rode area & a plexi cover to avoid rode entangling propane gear when hauling anchor. The hatch must be open to launch & haul anyway as the oval chain pipe is a pita to use with rope road & I reverted back to the original notch in fwd edge of hatch. I am quite sure the odor of propane would be noticed as soon as hatch was opened. Since we don't have nat. gas available in my area,I have lived 68yrs with propane & ,though I respect it,I don't fear it. Yes,I have had some "Whoofs" over the years,even a singed eyebrow or two,but it is surprising how much propane is required to cause a serious explosion. Most explosions happen when gas leaks while nobody is around.You couldn't stand the odor if you were in an enclosure with even a small leak.

Hope this helps
Cheers/ Len

[rognvald]

"in 30 kt winds, i stay put. after wind is diminished i will pull anchor.. and i LOVE sailing 30 kts.
NO ONE pulls anchor in 30 kt winds unless they are on a schedule or dragging anchor, in which case they trying to reset the thing, not pull it out of mud." Zeehag


Zee,
Have you ever dragged anchor off a dangerous lee shore in a poor holding bottom after an unexpected and dramatic wind shift? The last time I pulled my anchor in that situation, I believe I saved my boat. After we sailed to another anchorage, my anchor-well was clogged with thick mud and seashells. It took quite a while with a bucket to get it clean.
Best, Rognvald