Thanks kloudie1, I’ve studied Claude’s pdf and was following his lead. He mentions others who just cutout the bottom of the locker and let the chain fall against the hull. It would obviously be easier than a fiberglass project and actually gives the greatest volume so I’m thinking what would be the drawbacks to that approach?
Hello Charlie,
Saw your post and decided to attach the pdf I had created if it can help you with the installation. The reason I did not want the chain and rode line to drop in the bottom of the hull are twofold: 1) right or wrong, I did not want to have that chain rubbing against the hull ! And 2) Water and some muck do find their way in the anchor locker when retrieving the anchor. I did not want that to find it's way everywhere in the hull. Lewmar 1000 horizontal windlass.
FYI, I am using 75 feet of 5/16 Gr. 4 chain made for windlass operation. That chain is spliced to 150 feet of 5/8 nylon 3-strand anchor line. About 75 feet of that line is loved and loosely secured with a bungee cord on the upper part of the anchor locker, with the rest dropping to the bottom of the locker with the chain resting on it. With this set-up I can anchor in up to 20' of water without using the second half of the rode that is loved. If anchoring in 20 + depths, that second half gets deployed by itself without problems, but I then have to make sure that I retrieve the anchor from the bow control so that the first 75' rode is easily led on deck for coiling and the second 75' drops to the bottom of the locker followed by the chain.
I sail and cruise single-handed most of the time. So to coil safely, I retrieve the anchor until enough line to be coiled is on deck. cleat the rode for the minute or two that it takes me to coil and secure it and then retrieve the rest either from the bow control or from the remote in the cockpit. That way the boat is not going anywhere without me at the wheel LOL !
The drop length is about 12 inches when almost all retrieve iand I have rarely had to push on the chain to give it space on the of the pile !
I kept the locker drain going to the same through-hull and because of space it is now almost like a P-trap. Consequently I have to drop some antifreeze in it when I winterize the boat since our temperatures drops to minus 30 and I don't want any water left in that rubber hose. I have occasionnely had to clean the locker a few times but it is easily done with the wash-down hose once the anchor is set.
Good luck with your project. Drop me a pm with your phone number if you want to talk.