Hawse Pipe - How do YOU plug when sailing

[Eidolon65]

Hello all,
I’ve got a high speed Simpson Lawrence rebuilt in perfect shape, and I will need to plug the hawse pipe when Sailing… I have a Sunbrella cover that snaps on, but I don’t want to trust us. I’ve taken on water before on a different vessel I helped deliver with the same exact pipe. We just stuffed a bunch of rags in.
I’ve used a chunk of closed cell foam from a cushion, but wondered if anyone else has a more elegant method. I’m beginning the mental yoga - possibly reshaping, a teak plug with an eye on the bottom to hook the anchor chain on after detaching it from the anchor before getting underway?

Any input would be appreciated!!!

[coopec43]

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f116/stop-my-anchor-chain-hawse-pipe-from-leaking-228353.html

[Chotu]

A boat I used to own had a really different hawsepipe

It was an actual stainless pipe that had a turn in it so no water could come in the boat. Kind of like a dorade, but it took more of a turn so water couldn't possibly enter.

Best system out there.

[rslifkin]

Personally, I'd rather see watertight doors on the chain locker and a good overboard drain so I don't have to worry much about getting a slug of water down the hawse pipe.

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by Chotu

A boat I used to own had a really different hawsepipe

It was an actual stainless pipe that had a turn in it so no water could come in the boat. Kind of like a dorade, but it took more of a turn so water couldn't possibly enter.

Best system out there.

I’ll bite… if it was twisted round so much no water could get ever in, how did the chain fall through it?

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie

I’ll bite… if it was twisted round so much no water could get ever in, how did the chain fall through it?

Gravity.

The anchor locker is below the hawsepipe. At least on most of our little boats.

so the hanging chain inside the locker has a mass and that mass is subject to the Earth's gravity. as it drops to the bottom of the locker, it pulls more chain in.

[Chotu]

I dug through my phone to find a picture. See the stainless to the port side of the windlass? That’s the hawspipe. 100% waterproof.

rain? Green water over the bow? Doesn’t matter. No water is getting in.

A brilliant design.

[Eidolon65]

Thanks All,
It looks like there’s no new magical fix for this…
The expanding foam in a Ziploc bag is quite interesting though, but in any case, I’ll likely have to disconnect my chain from the anchor.

I thought about re-machining the windlass base to accept one of the standard chain pipes with the lids with the hook on the under side, you know the oval stainless kind that are quite common on board many smaller sailboats. I do currently have one of these on board for an extra nylon rode it’s just not in a position where the chain would fall through into the locker.

I’ll keep digging around and thinking about this thanks for all of your input I appreciate it!

[Cheechako]

I never seemed to get that much water in the hawsepipe. I had a sunbrella cover for the system on a couple boats also. One more layer. But I suppose you could in a hurricane, but then everything else would be leaking also!

[SailingHarmonie]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I dug through my phone to find a picture. See the stainless to the port side of the windlass? That’s the hawspipe. 100% waterproof.

rain? Green water over the bow? Doesn’t matter. No water is getting in.

A brilliant design.

Thank you for that. But no matter how brilliant, it is no help to the op who has a horizontal windlass with a vertical drop of chain to the locker.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie

Thank you for that. But no matter how brilliant, it is no help to the op who has a horizontal windlass with a vertical drop of chain to the locker.

Use your mind's eye. There is no difference. It can leave the capstan however it wants to. Then it goes into the tube. Then down the hole. Gravity pulls the chain.

there might be some differences with the installation, such as it will face the wrong way for green water. But how often does that actually happen?

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Eidolon65

Hello all,

I’ve got a high speed Simpson Lawrence rebuilt in perfect shape, and I will need to plug the hawse pipe when Sailing… I have a Sunbrella cover that snaps on, but I don’t want to trust us. I’ve taken on water before on a different vessel I helped deliver with the same exact pipe. We just stuffed a bunch of rags in.

I’ve used a chunk of closed cell foam from a cushion, but wondered if anyone else has a more elegant method. I’m beginning the mental yoga - possibly reshaping, a teak plug with an eye on the bottom to hook the anchor chain on after detaching it from the anchor before getting underway?



Any input would be appreciated!!!

I used to have a conical foam plug and a length of 4mm line, made from a few layers of those foam floor tiles they use for kiddie play areas. A cut along the radius to allow it to wrap around the chain.

Worked very well.

No longer use it because I changed the whole anchor chain setup, but I'd replace it with the same if I needed something like it again.

[Uncle Bob]

Now curiosity has gotten the better of me, if you persist in calling the spurling pipe a hawse pipe, what do you call an actual hawse pipe.

[Don C L]

Not much will get in if it has the cover on it, but does the chain locker have a drain?

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Uncle Bob

Now curiosity has gotten the better of me, if you persist in calling the spurling pipe a hawse pipe, what do you call an actual hawse pipe.

I'm rather surprised StuM wasn't onto that yesterday. He is slipping.

Big ship method was/is to jam wads of burlap in the hole aka spurling pipe and then mix up a bit of cement and wodge* that on top of the burlap to create a watertight seal.

* technical term