CR 38 Anchor Locker Drain

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Patrick

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Apr 2, 2013, 7:59:56 PM4/2/13
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Sorry I wasn't able to get the attached pictures out while the anchor
locker drain topic was under active discussion, but we were in the yard
at the time and other things took priority. Now, since we needed to run
out all the chain, inspect it, and clean out the bottom of the locker
anyway, I took that opportunity to take a couple of pictures of where
the drain is located on my boat.

As you can see (Locker_Drain_1.JPG) it is located all the way forward,
below the bolt for the bob-stay fitting, where the slope of the bow
meets the flat at the bottom of the locker. The forward end of the
water tank ends approx four inches aft of that spot. The tank is tapered
up in that area and has just enough room for the fill and vent fittings.
In other words the fittings are at the extreme forward edge of the tank.

My fitting arrangement looks a bit different because I installed a new
polypropylene tank inside the old fiberglass tank as described in a
previous post. I installed the hoses for the new tank using the old
penetrations but swapped them around. I ran a small 3/4" hose for the
vent through the old fill fitting. In the picture it looks to be black
but that is actually a scrap of hose split and fit over the new vent
hose for protection. The fill hose for the new tank was reduced in size
to 1" dia. about 2' feet above the penetration so it could be fed
through the old fittings. The 1" size seems to work fine, you just can't
fill the tank with fire-hose like volumes.

The second picture (Locker_Drain_2.JPG) shows what I do in the bottom. I
use scraps of Dry-Dek tiles both to protect the hose from the chain and
to ensure the bitter end of the chain doesn't sit in puddles of water.
There are actually several more pieces usually in place but as they are
black in color I took the picture with just the bottom layer of white
tiles showing for better contrast. After nearly 12,000 miles and
anchoring from Puget Sound to the Bay of Islands, NZ, I'm happy with the
arrangement.

Note that unlike what some others have reported, my boat does not have
any molded in ridges to support any kind of stop to keep the chain away
from the doors. Sounds like a nice addition I may consider someday but
to date we've never had an issue with the chain shifting and coming up
against the doors. We carry 300' of 5/16 G4 Acco chain and the windlass
is a Lighthouse 1500.

If you have questions or need further clarification please let me know.

Patrick
S/V Silhouette
Cabo Rico 38, #43
Currently Whangarei, NZ

Locker_Drain_1.JPG
Locker_Drain_2.JPG

Stan CR38 #52

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Apr 7, 2013, 9:21:32 PM4/7/13
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Patrick,

I want to thank you for the explanation and pictures of the anchor locker, that sounds and looks exactly like what I have, but without the drain hole. you've answered a lot of questions for me, Thanks again.

Patrick

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Apr 8, 2013, 1:52:04 AM4/8/13
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Stan,

You're welcome. Glad it helped.

Personally, I'd rather the locker didn't drain into the bilge but
overboard instead. Despite having a bit of screen over the drain hole,
which I failed to mention in my post, I still get mud/sand down into the
bilge under the V-berth. It does eventually end up in the bilge outside
the head where it can be cleaned out, but I'd rather it wasn't getting
into the boat at all. An overboard drain would be better, but has it's
own problems since unless one installed some kind of check-valve there
would be water flowing in and out of the locker on many occasions.
While the CR 38's have a lot of buoyancy forward, they still bury the
bow, or come close to it, on many occasions during ocean passages, and
that certainly would mean any gravity drain would be underwater on a
regular basis. I suppose one could create a sump and then have a small
automatic bilge pump to evacuate it with but that seems like a lot of
complication as well.

BTW, during ocean passages one can also get a fair amount of water down
the hawse hole of the anchor windlass, even with a canvas cover over the
windlass. Of course that water ends up in the bilge with the drain where
it is. To deal with that issue on our next passage I'm going to caulk
that hole closed. I'll carve a wooden plug to fit the opening and then
disconnect the chain and secure it to the bottom of the plug and seal
the plug in place. I'll install a lanyard on top to pull it out with.
That should reduce the amount of water that gets in via that route.

I've found that working out all these details is an iterative like
process. One makes a change and then lives with it for awhile. Often
further refinements come to light.

Patrick
S/V Silhouette, CR38, #43
Currently moored Whangarei, NZ

Stan CR38 #52

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Apr 9, 2013, 8:39:10 PM4/9/13
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Yes, it seems everything is a compromise.

 


On Tuesday, April 2, 2013 7:59:56 PM UTC-4, Patrick wrote:
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