removal of anchor locker

[Clifford Hunter]

I'm sure hoping and expecting that someone "out there" has removed their anchor locker? Our 32-3 has a expansive locker space and I am thinking of adding an additional stainless plate right behind the bow plate (anchor roller, etc) and securing it would require the removal of the whole locker unless I added an access port. If the whole locker needs to be removed, how do I reattach to drain tube?
Cliff Hunter
FIRST LOOK 32-3
Portland, OR

 

[Christian Williams]

Many of us have removed the anchor pan. Here's a thread with my description of the process:

Anchor Locker Hose Failure

My anchor locker drain hose failed offshore. The stub installed in the stem was a short length of 1/2" copper tubing, which corroded in salt water after 37 years of service. I yanked the pan this week, which required only a few hours patience with pry bars and caulk softener, and will install a...

ericsonyachts.org

 

[Kenneth K]

From reading other posts, the only way to reattach the tube is to start with a piece of tubing about 5 ft long. Feed the loose hose end through the bow before you start lowering the anchor pan back in place. Continue to pull the hose through as you lower the anchor pan. Hopefully, you remembered to smear a glob of caulk on the hose to seal it at the proper point where the anchor pan is fully seated. Then cut off the excess hose. Not easy to do.

Others have been successful just disposing of the molded anchor locker pan. In this case you have to construct a fiberglass bottom up to the height of the existing drain hole, and also protect the wooden bulkhead aft of the anchor locker. You'll gain additional storage space in doing so, as well as gaining access to all the under-bow hardware.

If you haven't gotten around to rebedding the bow pulpit bases and checking the bow light wiring, be sure and do it while the anchor pan is out. If you put the pan back in, you lose access to all these areas again.

I've not yet attacked this project but fear I will soon due to some leaky bow pulpit bases.

 

[bigd14]

Here is an example of the anchor locker mod that Ken is discussing. Only two panels. I used regular furniture grade plywood I had on hand with the top side covered in fiberglass cloth and the other simply painted with several coats of neat epoxy. These were bonded in place to the hull with fiberglass tape and the whole thing painted with white BilgeKote. I went a couple inches deeper than the existing drain hole (can't recall exactly why now but I think there was some kind of obstruction that required it) and had to drill a new hole through the stem to allow water to exit the very bottom of the anchor well. I left the original hole in place so now there are two drain holes in case the bottom one plugs. This also creates a small storage area at the very front of the V-berth, which I have not used so far as its hard to reach! It's nice to sit with your feet braced on the top portion of the anchor well and pull up the anchor. Tons of room for chain and rode and keeps the weight down low. There is also room to fit my Mantus anchor on top of the chain and rode pile since it doesn't like to sit well on the anchor roller. And access to all the underdeck fittings is great.

 

[ConchyDug]

Removing the pan and replacing the wooden "bulkhead" with a solid glassed in bulkhead was a huge improvement on the boat. Glassed the aft shelf of the pan into the boat and reinforced the deck aft of that. The drain tube a previous owner just filled it with 5200 and put drain holes on the bottom sides of locker. Also went ahead and rebedded all hardware that went through the deck up there with 610 and some kind of sealant backed with G10.

 

[Christian Williams]

I'm curious why this is an improvement over the factory pan and drain hose.

 

[Bolo]

I'm curious why this is an improvement over the factory pan and drain hose.

I’m guessing it might be access to the areas under the deck at that point (cleats, bow pulpit, wiring, etc.) On my E32-3 a previous owner installed a wash down which I find very useful in getting the sticky, black, Chesapeake Bay mud off the chain and anchor but I wonder about access to the hardware and I might have a leak in the drain hose area. Some water does show up in my main bilge sometimes and it seems to comes from the bow and not the stern although I’m not sure. Pulling the anchor pan and rebuilding the well seems like a difficult and time consuming project to correct something that may or may not be a problem.

One of the better improvements I’ve made at the anchor locker was to reinforce the door. Soon after I bought the boat (15 years ago) I noticed a spongy door that flexed more than it should when I stood on it. I found the core rotted and so repaired that and added reinforcement by way of two hard wood supports glassed into the door bottom. You can see them in the photo.

 

[ConchyDug]

I can't speak to the factory pans usefulness as I only had the back shelf part sort of semi glassed in when I bought the boat in 2016. From what I can tell that pan just impedes me getting to the back of all the hardware in the bow and covers up mystery leaks. I'm guessing the previous owners cracked it or destroyed it beyond repair. Because of that haphazard repair the cheesy wood bulkhead rotted out and I replaced it with a 3/4" thick solid fiberglass bulkhead. I can jump up and down on it... heck I bet I can even use it as a bulk hauler for grain to recoup costs of boat ownership. Replacing all that was the ground work for a removable furling staysail tack point and to prevent the deck from taco'n. The drain hose thru hull is also looking like a prime spot for an attach point for a sprit downhaul if I go that route.

 

[Nick J]

Like most other owners who have already addressed the chain locker, this is on my to do list. At first I was planning on removing the pan for all the reasons listed above, but lately I've been thinking of replacing the bulkhead similar with what @bigd14 showed above to completely seal the v birth from water ingress then reinstalling the pan with a gasket and screws tapped into the fiberglass (I may have to reinforce the lip to accept the threads). I'm thinking this would provide improved access to the bow hardware by not requiring a struggle with sealant while still keeping the benefits of the pan (less volume to fill if the bow is washed over, better organization, and an area to step when the lid is up).

 

[Christian Williams]

A virtue of the factory pan is that it doesn't hold much water if the drain hose clogs. Also, in violent conditions even a clogged pan sluices water out as result of sea action and is never more than half full.

If permanently removing the pan, make sure drainage of the new, larger compartment is certain, especially the limber hole from bow compartment to main bilge. Vast quantities of seawater enter the unsealed locker in heavy conditions. Anchor chain mud clogs drains. A big bow space full of seawater is not a happy prospect in extreme conditions.

 

[bigd14]

A big bow space full of seawater is not a happy prospect in extreme conditions.

There are also some gaps under the deck where water could make its way back into the boat in extreme conditions. Eventually I will seal these with expanding foam.

Excellent points Christian, most of which I had not considered prior to this modification. In my case, the anchor pan had cracks in it, the flange had been chipped and cracked where it had been removed a number of times, it was held in by wood screws and it leaked like a sieve. The entire pan was very flimsy and damaged from rough use. The copper pipe through the stem had corroded and the hose was partially kinked, all of which lead to a lot of water coming into the boat and causing problems. I decided it was easier to just get rid of it. Right now I am enjoying the deep chain and rode storage and access to the deck fittings, and see no need to worry about extreme conditions in the boats primary use area (although I know they sometimes happen). In the future it would be a fairly easy project to construct a new, more robust replacement anchor pan, along with a new drain tube and a limber hole in the existing anchor well to deal with any errant water that gets under the pan. Maybe when all the other projects are finished...

 

[ConchyDug]

The anchor pan drain is tied into the main bilge on the original design?

I'm an aircraft mechanic and not being able to regularly insp parts of the boat drives me nuts.

Stuffing positive buoyancy items in the locker or pan like beach balls, inner tubes or those waterproof bean bag chairs is a trick I picked up from some cruisers. If the lid came off... well then that's another animal. It's a large anchor locker door and probably should be lashed closed using the bow cleats rather than relying on a 0.25" pin to hold it down in conditions you expect water over the bow. Limber holes can be drilled out on the bow and vent covers installed over the top so it drains similar to a self bailer on a laser or 420 when heeled over. Attached a photo of an example.

 

[mjsouleman]

From reading other posts, the only way to reattach the tube is to start with a piece of tubing about 5 ft long. Feed the loose hose end through the bow before you start lowering the anchor pan back in place. Continue to pull the hose through as you lower the anchor pan. Hopefully, you remembered to smear a glob of caulk on the hose to seal it at the proper point where the anchor pan is fully seated. Then cut off the excess hose. Not easy to do.

Others have been successful just disposing of the molded anchor locker pan. In this case you have to construct a fiberglass bottom up to the height of the existing drain hole, and also protect the wooden bulkhead aft of the anchor locker. You'll gain additional storage space in doing so, as well as gaining access to all the under-bow hardware.

If you haven't gotten around to rebedding the bow pulpit bases and checking the bow light wiring, be sure and do it while the anchor pan is out. If you put the pan back in, you lose access to all these areas again.

I've not yet attacked this project but fear I will soon due to some leaky bow pulpit bases.

Kenneth,

I began these same projects in 2022 and still at it in 2023. In addition to your suggestions, I would suggest removing the bow chain plate for inspection with a metallurgist. on the E-30+ it is 3 wood screws and 9 through bolts with washers and nut. It will take two people, one on the inside to hold the nut, the other with a number #3 Philips High Torque screwdriver.

 

[Kenneth K]

A virtue of the factory pan is that it doesn't hold much water if the drain hose clogs.

In the 32-3, the anchor pan is just a few inches shy of the full depth of the bow. That's what makes the drain hose so hard to replace. So, the potential water volume retained in the bow is not much different with the pan removed, but access to hardware is greatly improved.

 

[Frank Langer]

Kenneth,

I began these same projects in 2022 and still at it in 2023. In addition to your suggestions, I would suggest removing the bow chain plate for inspection with a metallurgist. on the E-30+ it is 3 wood screws and 9 through bolts with washers and nut. It will take two people, one on the inside to hold the nut, the other with a number #3 Philips High Torque screwdriver.

Mark, did you have any issues with your bow chain plate or were you just being careful and proactive?
Frank

 

[Christian Williams]

The copper pipe through the stem had corroded

This might be a point for us all to consider, since it also happened to me. Such a break can't be repaired at sea, since the anchor pan has to come off. I replaced mine with stainless 1/2 OD tube. And reinstalled the pan with a longer hose, because, on the 38 at least, the factory must've connected the short hose before the bulkhead was installed.

...
Copper tube and original short drainage hose.

 

[Christian Williams]

The anchor pan drain is tied into the main bilge on the original design?

Conchy, you have a 38 also, so the Ericson pan design is reliable. Yes, the base of that compartment under it has a limber hole to the main bilge, where the bilge pumps are.

That's absolutely necessary because a detached drain hose will sink the boat. The hole in the stem is inaccessible and in a seaway water surges in relentlessly. In addition to running the bilge pump I hand-pumped the whale for five hours running for shelter in heavy conditions.

But in calmer conditions all you'd have to do is plug the hole in the stem from outside (it's low, so swimming necessary). The pan itself, on the 381 at least, can be sealed without worry, as even full it doesn't affect trim much.

Here's what water coming in looks like:

Vimeo

vimeo.com

 

[Kenneth K]

Here's what water coming in looks like:

Vimeo

vimeo.com

Wow!

That's why I struggle with the argument that bilge pumps are just for "nuisance leaks." That is only true until you really need one (or all) of your pumps. My 32-3 has something like eighteen hull penetrations (as factory configured, not including keel bolts). Lots of places for something to go wrong. Sometimes it actually does.

Seems like about once a year, we have someone reporting a water ingress incident around here: keel bolts, PSS, anchor locker, hose failures. I'm surprised we don't hear of more log/debris strikes on the plastic paddle-wheel transducers.

Murphy is waiting.

 

[Christian Williams]

I will add, forgive me if you've seen it, a fuller description of my incident. The video link will start at the moment, and you only have to watch five minutes to get the idea.

 

[Pete the Cat]

I am not sure if this is a good idea, but I decided that, to prevent clogging the drain in the anchor locker from crud, I dropped a panel of fiberglass window screen in the bottom. Not enough time to determine if it is a good idea.