While working in the anchor locker I installed a anchor hawser pipe to lead the chain and or rope lower in the hull. I have read a lot about getting the chain weight further back in the hull to help improve the ride. The previous owner had all the chain and rope high and really as forward as it could go. With this change it now dumps down right at the forward flat of the hull. I could run it back further but it would have to be pulled. I don't want to have to have someone below deck pulling chain every time we hoist anchor. As you can see I ran some light weight rope through the pipe to make sure it all ran through on its own. I figure the bigger rope is heavier so it should "flow" as well as the lighter rope.
The Westsail drawing says to run 2" pipe but I ran 3" to make sure the eye at the chain/rope connection does not get hung up.
Here is a picture of the pieces I used for the pipe. It is all 3" PVC drain pipe. The top piece that attaches to the deck is a toilet flange. I made a plywood piece that will get epoxied to the hull then the toilet flange will get screwed to that. You can see I cut some of the flange off because it was hitting the bowsprit bolts. Then there is about 24" of straight pipe then a 45 degree elbow, then a 12" straight.
The area that the chain gets diverted to does lead to the low bilge. That way any water that comes aboard with the chain can drain into the low bilge. Plus there are holes on port and starboard sides for air flow.
This pipe is not permanent yet as I want to see where I mount the windlass before I epoxy all the piping in.
So does Nellie Jo only have one hawse hole into the locker? On our boat there is one on both sides of the sprit. I was curious when I saw you only putting in one drain pipe and went back and looked at the photos you have of the foredeck during the sprit work and saw only one hole there too.
ReplyDeleteTate
Tate, yes she only has one and that one Will move due to the windlass. I will put another hole in for the other side. I think I would have to spit the storage space with a divider to make sure the two chains/ropes don't get tangled. Any thoughts on this?
ReplyDeleteI was thinking the same thing about separating them with a divider. You may want to keep the rope up higher in the primary locker and let only the chain go down via the drain pipe.
DeleteI too thought about keeping the rope higher. I really am trying to get as much weight as low as possible in the bow. I think there is enough room for both in the lower hull. I think I might bring all the ground tackle back to the boat and see how it all fits before I glass in a divider.
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