H33 anchor well water

[Jack]

Hi Everyone,
We have an '08-H33, which we are very pleased with and has always done well by us. I have, however, been thinking of this one area of frustration that will certainly shorten the life of my ground tackle.
The problem is that my ground tackle is subject to the weather and is stored inside a damp locker. Has anyone figured out a way to keep the ground tackle dry between uses?
For those who are not familiar with the anchor locker, there is a 5 x 3 inch opening in the front of the hatch for the rode and anchor stem to enter the well. When the anchor is riding on the roller this is a great design. I don't store the anchor there unless we are sailing. So most of the time the anchor, chain and rode are in the well. I have tried coiling the rode and keeping it off the bottom of the locker but that doesn't help the chain much.
Any and all ideas are appreciated and i thank you all.

Jack & Robin

 

[Alan]

A curiosity?? "...I don't store the anchor there unless we are sailing. So most of the time the anchor, chain and rode are in the well." I'm thinking if your not sailing why would you want to move the anchor off the roller???? Certainly it is unaffected by the weather.

On my boat the rode comes through a small cutout in the anchor locker cover and into a plastic tub I store in the locker. Any water entering the locker just exits the locker through a drain hole in the front of the boat. The plastic tub is always dry not that it matters.

 

[seadaddler]

Same

Most all sailboats and power boats have set up with rode down in a locker or even some way down below where the warm fresh air doesn't circulate it dry.
I and most sailboats leave the anchor right on the roller anchor and rode down in the locker and this way it is always ready to be used and the weather is not going to hurt it,I do wash the whole locker with fresh water down from time to time and if sitting at my slip or a mooring I do leave it open to dry.
Nick

 

[Steve Dion]

If you are worried about this, then I suggest that you have a Sunbrella cover made to cover the opening and the anchor locker door.

Personally this has never been an issue for us. I would also suggest that you rinse out your anchor locker after sail. This will remove the salt, mud and dirt from the ground tackle.

 

[Jack]

Thanks guys, glad to here that this is common and probably won't become an issue in the future. we do rinse off the gear after we use it and i will keep the hatch open longer while at the mooring.
re:Alan...
i store the anchor while the boat is on the mooring so the pennants can't chafe against it. The bucket idea sounds great. i will certainly give it a try.
thanks to all.
jack

 

[Alex Dare]

While there are two drain holes in the anchor locker, the higher one serving as an overflow should the lower one get plugged, you'll still have the problem of wet rope not drying quickly. If you can get the line off the bottom of the locker and get some air under it, you're ahead of the game. Sometimes a milk crate, cut to fit or whole, placed in the bottom of the locker will do the trick.