Silver Heels <> wrote:

Hi Tor –
What about a small “acnchor locker” bilge pump. That would allow for a drain through hull well above the waterline. Perhaps then you can even rinse the chain in the locker allowing enough water to mix with the sand and slime you bring in to pass throught the pump without issue.
-Eric

Silver Heels <> wrote:

That’s a viable idea, Eric. Thanks. I’m not sure there’s going to be enough water in that locker to justify these big solutions I’ve been considering. The more I think about this, the more inclined I am to see if I can simply contain the small amount of water that does get into the locker – if not in the locker itself, then at the “top” of the bilge aft of the forward water tank – and then just bail it out once in a while. However, if there were a lot of water entering the chain locker, then your suggestion could work.

I do have an idea for ventilating the chain locker, which should help keep it dry and odor-free.

Tor

Well, Bob, one man’s limber hole is another man’s cleavage, and who is to say where the “main bilge” is in a Pearson 424, anyway. My boat has a hole – OK, a limber hole – in the bottom of the chain locker, so water in that locker will drain into the cleft of the lower stem of the hull, continue beneath the forward water tank and along the vortex of the foremost bilge area, finally to puddle in flattish depression a foot or so forward of the mainmast step. If there’s more water than that, it will spread the puddle around the mast step and aft, eventually to find its way over the precipice beneath the galley and into what I call the sump, that wonderfully deep bilge section abaft the keel ballast that ensures our floorboards will not start floating around the salon in anything less than a complete catastrophe.

What I’d like to avoid is having the malodorous bottom muck that comes aboard our boats with the anchor chain (in certain cruising regions) to spread into the flat, upper bilge area between the forepeak and the Great Precipice, there to ferment until it overpowers even the smoke and smell of my burnt dinners, sending captain and crew alike scampering for the cockpit. That’s what all this brainstorming – well, Rich’s brainstorming and my head-scratching – has been about. In the absence of an easy fix free of dire consequences, my decision at this point is to ignore the whole issue and hope it never happens. If I build my chain locker right and religiously rinse muddy chain as it comes aboard, I just might get away with it.

Tor

I’ve done the modification y’all are talking about, and have posted some pix to the 424 site https://www.pearson424.org/gallery/Ra

I glassed in the bottom of the anchor locker so it does not drain to the bilge, then drilled a hole slightly smaller than 1/2”.

I looked all over for a check valve for the spot and eventually just gave up. I plan to add a clamshell vent over the top angled such that it blocks forward moving water from going in the hole.

Again, I have to say I haven’t seen much heavy weather since doing this, but I’ve seen similar arrangements on enough newer ‘bluewater’ boats that I think the amount of water able to get in there would be acceptable.

On 4/25/08 6:44 AM, Silver Heels wrote :

Aaron,

That’s encouraging to hear you’ve seen this on other bluewater sailboats. Can you think of any brand names offhand? I’d
sure like to hear some firsthand accounts of how it works going to weather in a blow. If/when you find out for yourself,
please let us know. Did you do anything about sealing the bulkhead hatch that opens into the V-berth?

Tor

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A rubber flap under a clamshell seems like a winning combination, as long as the flap is pliable enough to let water and
mud drain out.

Tor