E35/3 anchor locker rebuilds?

[gabosifat]

Hello Everyone,
I'm interested in projects any members have undertaken to rebuild their anchor lockers. We've had persistent leaks around the anchor tray at the port and starboard aft corners. The water always makes it's way into the forward V berth and soaks the cushions and darkens the teak trim. I removed the tray and re-bedded it back in 2018, and now the leak is back worse than ever.
I once saw a boat that had the forward part of the tray removed, and a stainless plate mounted with a winch on it so the chain drops straight into the locker below. I don't recall the details of how it was done.
I have 150' of 5/16" chain which is a lot more weight than the tray was originally designed for, and the winch is currently mounted on the deck behind the anchor locker (this requires hand feeding the chain into the locker as the winch brings it in).
Hoping someone has come up with a better configuration to deal with the anchor locker and to prevent leaks into the boat.

Many thanks for all replies!
Cheers,
Steve Gabbott
E35/3 Silent Dancer
Gabriola Island

 

[bsangs]

Hello Everyone,
I'm interested in projects any members have undertaken to rebuild their anchor lockers. We've had persistent leaks around the anchor tray at the port and starboard aft corners. The water always makes it's way into the forward V berth and soaks the cushions and darkens the teak trim. I removed the tray and re-bedded it back in 2018, and now the leak is back worse than ever.
I once saw a boat that had the forward part of the tray removed, and a stainless plate mounted with a winch on it so the chain drops straight into the locker below. I don't recall the details of how it was done.
I have 150' of 5/16" chain which is a lot more weight than the tray was originally designed for, and the winch is currently mounted on the deck behind the anchor locker (this requires hand feeding the chain into the locker as the winch brings it in).
Hoping someone has come up with a better configuration to deal with the anchor locker and to prevent leaks into the boat.

Many thanks for all replies!
Cheers,
Steve Gabbott
E35/3 Silent Dancer
Gabriola Island

You described what was done to mine by its previous owner. Forward part of the hatch removed, stainless steel plate mounted with an electric winch, chain feeds through the hatch entry slot into the locker below. Unfortunately, the previous owner failed to seal the ends of the locker hatch and the area below the stainless steel plate where the cut was made, which caused some pretty bad rot. Made standing on the hatch cover less than ideal for fear of falling through. Had to have the hatch re-glassed - it came out great and is stronger than ever - and tomorrow I'm scraping out the rot below the stainless steel plate and repairing it with 3M marine filler (along with fixing the hatch handle hole, which leaks into the core on the starboard side). Also had to replace the burned out winch motor this year, which was a pretty easy job.

From what I can tell, water is going to get into that locker no matter what. I cleaned out the drainage hole that exits the bow and it made a huge difference. Water no longer seeps below into where the anchor rode rests, it drains freely out the hole. I just need to remove the rode and let it completely dry this winter, because I think it's been sitting in there damp for a long while.

I know there are some threads here about rebuilding that area, but sounds like you've already accomplished that. That is a lot of chain. Do you think the weight has "helped" cause the leaking issues? Good luck.

 

[Loren Beach]

Perhaps minor details, but I added a layer of "dry deck" tiles to the floor of our anchor locker many years ago to help the rode dry out. Right after buying the boat I found that a small water leak inside the forward cabin (starb. side) was due to the ss pin in the locker lid being drilled into the balsa coring of the adjacent deck. I enlarged the hole a bit, wrapped the pin end with thin plastic wrap, pushed some thickened epoxy into the enlarged hole, and drove the pin home. Pulled the pin back out next day, and that deck penetration has been dry ever since.
No problem with the locker being sealed to the deck on our model tho.... factory glassed it to the deck. Others here have detailed their work in re-sealing that tub, so some reading of threads will be needed.

 

[bsangs]

Perhaps minor details, but I added a layer of "dry deck" tiles to the floor of our anchor locker many years ago to help the rode dry out. Right after buying the boat I found that a small water leak inside the forward cabin (starb. side) was due to the ss pin in the locker lid being drilled into the balsa coring of the adjacent deck. I enlarged the hole a bit, wrapped the pin end with thin plastic wrap, pushed some thickened epoxy into the enlarged hole, and drove the pin home. Pulled the pin back out next day, and that deck penetration has been dry ever since.
No problem with the locker being sealed to the deck on our model tho.... factory glassed it to the deck. Others here have detailed their work in re-sealing that tub, so some reading of threads will be needed.

Similar to what I'm planning to do tomorrow. I'm going to scrape out the rotted balsa, enlarge the hole, fill it with epoxy, then drill into the hardened epoxy to create a new hole for the pin. Though your method sounds much easier. Hmm.

 

[Loren Beach]

I was also lucky as heck in that the factory guy that drilled that horizontal hole had slightly pushed the drill thru the inside thin layer of glass and resin under the balsa. That caused the leak, ignored by the first owner, inside the boat... but also kept the core from soaking up water. That hole should have been sealed with some resin in the first place, and I hope that other EY owners did not have that problem.

 

[Prairie Schooner]

Hi Steve,
In case you haven't found them, these links may be helpful:
1 https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/ericson-windlass-installation-master-thread.14903/
2 https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/anchor-locker-hose-failure.19230/
3 https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/35-3-windlass-install.11286/
4 https://www.practical-sailor.com/sails-rigging-deckgear/clear-the-decks-anchor-wells-and-bow-rollers
5 https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/thread...-install-and-chain-storage-for-e38-200.11213/
6 https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/windlass-installation-for-ericson-32-iii-master-thread.3464/
7 https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/manual-horizontal-windlass-install-on-an-e32-3.19751/Hi

There are more, as well as several on repairing the anchor locker lid, a common problem.
cheers,
Jeff

 

[oldfauser]

the anchor locker hatch (lid) is getting soft on our 32-3. links/suggestions on stiffening it?

 

[gabosifat]

I had the same issue on our 35/3. The water collects on the aft corners of the hatch due to the slope in the deck and somehow get into the balsa core and rots it. I took the lid home and cut out the bottom fibreglass skin, removed the balsa core, and filled it with epoxy with microballoons. Then fibreglassed over, sanded it smooth and painted the underside with Brightside marine paint.
cheers,
Steve Gabbott
Silent Dancer
E35/3
Gabriola Island BC

 

[Prairie Schooner]

the anchor locker hatch (lid) is getting soft on our 32-3. links/suggestions on stiffening it?

Hi Art,
I have these two links bookmarked, on that subject. There may well be more.

E381 - Saturated Anchor Locker Lid Repair - Part 1

So over the last week I finally got around to completing the repairs to my saturated anchor locker lid. First off was the task of cleaning out the saturated balsa core and scoured back to the underside glass mat. It was obvious that the lid had...

ericsonyachts.org

E35-3 - Anchor Locker Lid Repair

This blog is a repost and consolidation of a thread on the forum. Figured I would add it here, with some rewording as well. This was my first foray into fiberglass repair and reading others posts especially Kiwisailor's really helped give me...

ericsonyachts.org

It's on my project list, for, sometime . . . If you tackle it, I'd love to see how it goes.
Cheers,
Jeff

 

[Christian Williams]

As others said, a prime leak culprit is the two holes drilled to accommodate the sliding pin latch. (Arrows on picture).

Both permit water entry into the core of lid or deck. I pumped epoxy into both holes to form an interior plug, and then drilled out new entries to receive the latch. The holes now no longer penetrate into the core.

It's a one-hour job, good to do if the core isn't already compromised.

 

[bsangs]

As others said, a prime leak culprit is the two holes drilled to accommodate the sliding pin latch. (Arrows on picture).

Both permit water entry into the core of lid or deck. I pumped epoxy into both holes to form an interior plug, and then drilled out new entries to receive the latch. The holes now no longer penetrate into the core.

It's a one-hour job, good to do if the core isn't already compromised.

View attachment 44552

That's interesting Christian. My '85 35-3 only has one hole in the deck for the sliding pin. The lid has two retaining plates for the pin and an open groove - instead of the hole you're showing - that leads into the deck hole. Sealed that hole up nicely and will be drilling it tomorrow.

 

[bsangs]

the anchor locker hatch (lid) is getting soft on our 32-3. links/suggestions on stiffening it?

It was beyond the scope of my repair skills/work space, so I took it to a fiberglass guy who fixed it up great. It went from being a constant cause of concern, to now being one of the sturdiest things on the boat.