Crafting a lazarette barrier to protect drive shaft from cargo

[light24bulbs]

We are crafting a barrier for the lazarette so we can store things on my 30+ without stuff falling into the drive shaft. The water heater has been out for years, I have no need for hot water.

We are considering either a removable plywood barrier or a net of webbing with twist snaps around the edges. I am leaning towards the net idea personally. The tricky thing is that I like to be able to see in there under way and NEED to be able to get in there somewhat quickly in case the dripless fails (has happened once before to previous owner).

Has anyone solved this on their boats that can offer any input?View attachment 50519

 

[Frank Langer]

I think you'll still need access for the PSS, to check tranny fluid, to service the heat exchanger, etc. I would also want to keep that area a bit open to allow engine heat to dissipate.
Therefore I would lean toward some kind of removable, permeable membrane of sorts-- netting, a lattice board that you can swing out of the way, etc.
Frank

 

[Christian Williams]

I'm against wood barriers. My boat had one and I removed it. I need to be able to frequently inspect the steering, dripless, heat exchanger, plumbing, pencil zinc, transmission fluid and in my case the spaghetti of my Cape Horn wind vane quadrant lines. Not just emergencies, but routinely.

My solution is to dangle gear on short lines from the lazarette. My lifejacket bundles hang quietly, as does the bag for my one-piece hatch board. Or, say, a bag containing a messy BBQ grille. Easy to pull out for inspections.

The former owner was able to toss stuff into his walled-off lazarette, and he filled it with 300 pounds of fenders, stern anchor, boarding ladder, spare lines and so on, which is a solution to the storage issues of all sailboats, and also nuts.

 

[Prairie Schooner]

This canvas partition came with our boat. The compartment is a different geometry than you have, but it may be helpful. It is easy to remove and not conducive to large loads leaning against it, making it amenable to Christian's sensible cautions.

 

[bsangs]

Like Christian, I use some hatch hooks - these are from United Yachting - under the laz hatch and a few down below as well. Keeps things tidy. I also keep our large, manual bilge pump down below, which is large enough that it won’t shift and slide toward the shaft or water heater. It also acts as a “barrier” of sorts, which would keep anything from falling below it. There are some turning snaps at the bottom, which makes me think one of the previous owners must have had an arrangement like the one you’re considering, I’ll assume it was canvas of some sort like in Jeff’s photo.

 

[G Kiba]

I like your idea. Maybe a frame you can dowel to the floor and quick release pins on the wall to make removal similar to an engine cover. Might consider plexiglass sides so you can inspect without removal. The shaft access on my boat is in a small storage area that I keep completely empty for fear of rotating parts and spray from the conventional packing gland at times. Best of luck on your project.

 

[bigd14]

This is on my list too. I constructed a plywood cover for the fuel tank which keeps most stuff contained, but it doesn’t quite extend to the PSS shaft seal which I need to keep an eye on. I had a near miss a few years back where I discovered a fender line draped over the prop shaft and PSS. I am very careful now to manage the lines but I would like a little more protection for this area. I’ll be interested to see what you come up with.

The triangular wood cover “extension” is easily removed with two screws to access the fuel tank fittings.

 

[mordust]

I used some vinyl lattice (think front porch) from home depot. I screwed some of the lattice cap up side down (slot facing up)
on the floor as a way to mount it. You can cut it pretty much to fit any oddly shaped cuts you may need. Its somewhat bendable in case you need that ability to fit it around something.
Since the lattice cap has some depth to it, I placed a couple of screws up near the top of the inside of the lazerette where I can kind of hang it up while most of the bottom is still captured in the vinyl cap on the floor.
Kind of like your netting idea, but a little firmer. It is easily removable just by lifting the top off of the screws and pulling it up out of the bottom cap. Just the opposite for putting it back in place. Easy!
You can pretty much see through it as well.
I can't post any pictures of this now because it is temporarily removed while doing a couple of projects down there

 

[AK67]

This canvas partition came with our boat. The compartment is a different geometry than you have, but it may be helpful. It is easy to remove and not conducive to large loads leaning against it, making it amenable to Christian's sensible cautions.

View attachment 50521

This set up is what I have on my E28-2 as well. Works well and easily removable as needed.

 

[light24bulbs]

To close off this thread in case anyone else finds it and is curious:

My wonderful girlfriend ended up sewing a trapezoid out of sunbrella. It attaches with those twist snaps like a mainsail cover. The male part of the snaps are screw-backed and they screw into the plywood bulkheads on either side and the plywood above the fuel tank. I will try to remember to snap a photograph next time I'm at the boat.

It does oclude visibility somewhat, however most of the time when I'm day sailing I can just have it out. It's also possible to see past it since theres some slack. I think it would be better out of a transparent material, but we didnt have anything strong enough on hand. It at least comes out very quickly for emergency repairs.

We had almost the exact array of things in the lazarette as Mr. Williams mentioned as "nuts" including the big anchor, but it did also solve the storage problem of diving gear for three of our crew. 5 people on an e30+ for 12 days was _tight_ but that's another post.

Thanks for all your input, it was super valuable!