I just posted up a few more photos. That show the underside of the windlass. I backed the whole thing with starboard and added a small hauser (sp??) on the underside as a guide. The chain is ( 90' x 1/4") attached to a 340' 7/16" 3 strand nylon that I anticipate using for my sea anchor deployement should I ever need it. So far I have only needed the 90' of chain, so essentially the extra rode is there just as a convienent storage place for the spool.
The whole thing is mounted as far back as possible in order to get the weight out of the bow and as low as possible. The chain drops straight down into the small compartment just aft the water tank. I used some type 45 degree plumbing fitting as a guide into the compartment, which is kinda square. The chain had a tendency of stacking and so I filled in the front half of the new chain locker with "Great stuff" expanding foam and then sliced/shaved it down so that it slopes back to the deepest most aft portion of the compartment. i then added a piece of lexan to the whole thing to create a slick surface so the weight of the chain would cause the whole lot to keep sliding rearward and deeper into the locker as it's reeled back in .
Chopped fiberglass mat was used for the fairing under the windlass( about an inch thick overall) and bow roller area (about 2-3") so it mounted evenly over the bow toerail. . . I added layers, maybe ten over a two week period..
The anti skid is Herculiner. Most people know of it as a truck bed liner. i have never seen it applied to a truck bed, but I have seen it used on industrial applications such as tank coatings. Check out their web site, it is reccomended for all marine applications. It is acctually not paint, but a rubberized coating. i applied 3 coats, the whole deck took three gallons. careful once it's applied, it's there for good. I preped everything and then coated over the hull/deck seam as well as the stanchion bases and rails, win (up to maybe 1/4" high) to prevent any nusiance leaks from developing. A side note to this is that I spent several $$ and about a week replacing all the hardware that had rust on them and physically checked, and rebeded every bolt/screw that penetrate through the deck to ensure i wasn't covering over any problem areas before doing the deck coating.
You might also notice that I had all of the rails, locker lids, hatch boards, sprayed with 3 layers of epoxy and then sprayed white. I am very satisfied with the finished product. No more varnish, and I should have years of trouble free sailing ahead.
i am planning to go offshore and wanted to add some anti skid. The herculiner provided this as well as adding a protective layer to the whole deck, so now when I drop tools (dropped a leatherman supertool from the masthead and saw it hit the deck, not a mark) it just bouned into the frigid october water. The product has tiny rubber particles mixed in for traction, and is very durable. it also added quite a bit of thermal insulation ( my boat gets dew a couple of hours before the others at the marina, and it last for hours after the sun has dried the other boats, which means it's surface temp is cooler for some reason. this may help in the tropics) The only down side is that the raised/rough surface collects dirt a little more than normal antiskid, but it cleans up beatifully with a hose.
If anyone else is thinking of doing this beware that the final surface texture will be a little rough, but this could easily be worked around by straining all of the rubber particles out of the mixture with a screen strainer type thing normally used for cooking, and then mixing back in the amount that suits you.
Other people at the marina thought i was outta my mind for doing the herculiner, but I have had several people come to see the finished product, and they all wanted to know what it was, how to apply it, and what it cost etc. i am satisfied with the end result. Oh yeah the Herculiner weighs around 10lbs/gallon and cost around $130/gallon (you have to search for the white on line auto store only carry black at around $80/gallon)
sorry for the long post, but I hope the info helps.
forgive spelling and grammar. The pints the pints the pints! K.L.Magee
