Anchor lockers are covered in-depth around here - this is my story of addressing this area. I'm thankful for this community and all the others who did this project before me so I could have a reference. Materials used: ACX Plywood, 1708 fiberglass cloth, TotalBoat polyester resin, Totalboat Thixo, cabosil, chopped fiberglass, PVA, Rust-Oleum Marine Primer, Rust-Oleum Marine Topside paint - Oyster White.
I finally explored the last hidden area on my boat - under the anchor locker pan. What I found explained some mysterious water that was entering. In the E26-2, at the front end of the v-berth, there's a piece of plywood inside covering the bulkhead to the anchor locker. Upon removing that panel, I saw that at the bottom of the bulkhead, whether factory or not, there was a cutout. Presumably there so one can reach through and align the drain hose from the anchor locker pan with the drain hole. Here's what it looked like from the anchor locker side.
That's the cushion in the v-berth you see there. Quite obviously, water has been coming in here and filling up the storage compartment under the cushion. Another mystery solved and unexplored area conquered.
For resolution, I considered several options, but the one that stood out the most was sealing this area off and cutting the pan off the factory setup. I would gain more space and in my mind, it's a more elegant solution with less things to go wrong. After some last-minute hesitation, and encouragement from @bigd14 to go for it (thanks, Doug!!), I started work sealing it in. Because I had some polyester resin that was starting to get a little old, I decided to use it everywhere possible.
After taking careful measurements, and making cardboard templates, I cut the pieces of plywood at home and reinforced them with polyester resin and 1708 cloth. I used a larger piece to cover the cutout into the v-berth and provide a transition down. I also added a smaller piece at the bottom that angled slightly so the existing drain hole was at the very bottom. I buttered the edges of the small piece with Thixo before setting it into place, then added a bead of the same before smoothing into a fillet. The larger piece had a bead of Thixo on the back to adhere it around the edges. I used Thixo in these areas mainly because I couldn't guarantee a polyester cure due to some of the areas being blind.
I used some cloth up high to seal and reinforce the existing bulkhead. I also joined the two new pieces together so the water would flow smoothly down into the drain hole and to make sure it was sealed nicely.
I mixed up some thickened/reinforced resin to use to fillet everything in place and provide smooth transitions for the water to flow down into the drain hole. Because my finishing wax add-in had hardened (didn't know this was a thing), I sealed it all in with PVA for final cure.
Coming back the next week, everything was cured and hard as a rock. Time to put a little lipstick on this pig. After a quick sanding to knockdown the sharp edges, I put a coat of primer.
The next week, I cut the bottom of the anchor pan with my oscillating saw (so much better than a jigsaw, in my experience). I decided to leave a bigger lip than others before me have, but I liked the way this looked.
A coat of topside paint on the inside...
And I can now fit my rode AND my anchor in the locker. While I had everything apart, I also sanded and painted the inside of the lid and refreshed the fasteners.
I just noticed looking at this picture that the two notches in the lip of the pan are probably where the stock of the anchor is supposed to rest. Cool!
Another project for the books and I'm very happy with how this turned out. We've had some heavy rains in the last couple of weeks and any water that is getting in seems to be draining out nicely. I think now I've explored all the dark and hidden parts of the boat. I know water is still getting in a couple of places, but I think this is the last of the large leaks.
I finally explored the last hidden area on my boat - under the anchor locker pan. What I found explained some mysterious water that was entering. In the E26-2, at the front end of the v-berth, there's a piece of plywood inside covering the bulkhead to the anchor locker. Upon removing that panel, I saw that at the bottom of the bulkhead, whether factory or not, there was a cutout. Presumably there so one can reach through and align the drain hose from the anchor locker pan with the drain hole. Here's what it looked like from the anchor locker side.
That's the cushion in the v-berth you see there. Quite obviously, water has been coming in here and filling up the storage compartment under the cushion. Another mystery solved and unexplored area conquered.
For resolution, I considered several options, but the one that stood out the most was sealing this area off and cutting the pan off the factory setup. I would gain more space and in my mind, it's a more elegant solution with less things to go wrong. After some last-minute hesitation, and encouragement from @bigd14 to go for it (thanks, Doug!!), I started work sealing it in. Because I had some polyester resin that was starting to get a little old, I decided to use it everywhere possible.
After taking careful measurements, and making cardboard templates, I cut the pieces of plywood at home and reinforced them with polyester resin and 1708 cloth. I used a larger piece to cover the cutout into the v-berth and provide a transition down. I also added a smaller piece at the bottom that angled slightly so the existing drain hole was at the very bottom. I buttered the edges of the small piece with Thixo before setting it into place, then added a bead of the same before smoothing into a fillet. The larger piece had a bead of Thixo on the back to adhere it around the edges. I used Thixo in these areas mainly because I couldn't guarantee a polyester cure due to some of the areas being blind.
I used some cloth up high to seal and reinforce the existing bulkhead. I also joined the two new pieces together so the water would flow smoothly down into the drain hole and to make sure it was sealed nicely.
I mixed up some thickened/reinforced resin to use to fillet everything in place and provide smooth transitions for the water to flow down into the drain hole. Because my finishing wax add-in had hardened (didn't know this was a thing), I sealed it all in with PVA for final cure.
Coming back the next week, everything was cured and hard as a rock. Time to put a little lipstick on this pig. After a quick sanding to knockdown the sharp edges, I put a coat of primer.
The next week, I cut the bottom of the anchor pan with my oscillating saw (so much better than a jigsaw, in my experience). I decided to leave a bigger lip than others before me have, but I liked the way this looked.
A coat of topside paint on the inside...
And I can now fit my rode AND my anchor in the locker. While I had everything apart, I also sanded and painted the inside of the lid and refreshed the fasteners.
I just noticed looking at this picture that the two notches in the lip of the pan are probably where the stock of the anchor is supposed to rest. Cool!
Another project for the books and I'm very happy with how this turned out. We've had some heavy rains in the last couple of weeks and any water that is getting in seems to be draining out nicely. I think now I've explored all the dark and hidden parts of the boat. I know water is still getting in a couple of places, but I think this is the last of the large leaks.
