boats....

  • 02 Jun 2011 08:40
    Reply # 611178 on 610125
    Gary King wrote:Gary: With that monster diesel aft I dont think you will having any problems balance wise.
    We dont have anything that big in our boat, apart from the 30kg outboard, so I plan to locate the house batteries back there, maybe another water tank aft will help too.

    We are sealing the forward bulkhead, so it is a watertight chain locker, I was  thinking of using a removable bung, under the double bunk to drain the locker from time to time, but if our Badger turns out to have a permanently dry bilge, we probably wouldnt want to spoil it, so a chain locker bilge pump up front might be the way to go.

    The diesel is an old Yanmar YSE12 that was given to me when a friend upgraded to a new one. It runs well but I'd love something a bit smaller and lighter.
  • 02 Jun 2011 22:38
    Reply # 611637 on 593648
    In an ideal world, you keep heavy weights out of the ends of the boat altogether and concentrate it round the middle.  But then, it isn't an ideal world.

    What we did on Badger, Gary, was to make a drain hole for the chain locker just above the waterline.  This meant that we didn't have to seal the hawsepipes and that waves over the bow washed all the mud and stuff off the chain on passage.  We had two round access hatches from the 'hanging locker' (full of foremast) to the chain locker with screw down lids.  This allowed us to get in to untangle the chain - sometimes it would fall in a pyramid and then lie on itself if you went straight out and hard on the wind.  Made it difficult to pull out.  It also allowed us to get in to tie off the bitter end - not something you want to forget to do :-)
  • 03 Jun 2011 00:20
    Reply # 611689 on 593648
    I have built in a locker right forard and high up in the bow with a through hull drain above the waterline. There is a below deck access hatch, which needs remodelling. I think this will be fine for storing a chain/rope rode. I do have an area aft of the mast and low down under the v-berth that would hold chain with room to spare...and I will probably go with this. I think I can fit an offset feed pipe without impinging on the v-berth much more than the mast has already done. Luckily I still have a little while before a hard and fast decision has to be made.
  • 03 Jun 2011 12:58
    Reply # 611999 on 611637
    Deleted user
    Annie Hill wrote:In an ideal world, you keep heavy weights out of the ends of the boat altogether and concentrate it round the middle.  But then, it isn't an ideal world.

    What we did on Badger, Gary, was to make a drain hole for the chain locker just above the waterline.  This meant that we didn't have to seal the hawsepipes and that waves over the bow washed all the mud and stuff off the chain on passage.  We had two round access hatches from the 'hanging locker' (full of foremast) to the chain locker with screw down lids.  This allowed us to get in to untangle the chain - sometimes it would fall in a pyramid and then lie on itself if you went straight out and hard on the wind.  Made it difficult to pull out.  It also allowed us to get in to tie off the bitter end - not something you want to forget to do :-)
    On ours the bottom of the chain locker is indeed just above the LWL, by around 5 to 10cm. Not too sure, have to wait till its floated to see. I guess I'm too chicken to drill a hole in the hull so close to the water. :-O
    Access is via a hatch in the bulkhead, it should give easy access to everywhere in the locker.
  • 04 Jun 2011 07:59
    Reply # 612806 on 611999
    Gary King wrote: I guess I'm too chicken to drill a hole in the hull so close to the water. :-O

    But if it's forward of a truly watertight bulkhead, what's the problem?
  • 05 Jun 2011 01:19
    Reply # 613112 on 593648
    Regarding chain lockers: 

    For 'mehitabel' I built a watertight bulkhead before the foremast, with a deep chain locker forward of it. The manual windlass is on the foremast, copied from Badger's setup.

    Access is from a person-size deck hatch with a nearly watertight lid. No hawsepipe. I can always see and handle how the chain behaves, get at ends for shackling, and hose the locker and chain down from time to time. Bitter ends are tied off just inside the hatch, easy to reach. Rope rode is piled separately, high and forward, so that chain goes to the bottom. The drain is wine-cork size, just above the resting waterline. I chose not to compromise our dry shallow bilges with silty chain-drippings.

    For passages I used to try various plugs and trailing hoses to keep water from sloshing in and out (but the old locker leaked...) Next, I plan to use, yes, a wine-cork, that would pop out if the locker were fully flooded. 
    (But water sloshing in and out doesn't matter - in fact I think it's traditional in some Chinese junks, but with more openings, maybe to control pitching.)

    The foredeck is important to the strength of the foremast partners, so not every boat should have a hatch in it as big as ours.

    Cheers,
    Kurt
    Last modified: 05 Jun 2011 01:24 | Anonymous member
  • 05 Jun 2011 01:59
    Reply # 613149 on 612806
    Deleted user
    Annie Hill wrote:
    Gary King wrote: I guess I'm too chicken to drill a hole in the hull so close to the water. :-O

    But if it's forward of a truly watertight bulkhead, what's the problem?
    Fair enough Annie. 
    I was chicken because 'maybe' on closer inspection the self draining locker may not work on our boat. After writing my last post I realised the mast step, which sits atop the stem knee and also occupies the chain locker, has drain holes at the bottom and is another 6 or 7cm lower. Another solution would be adding another bulkhead forward of the mast, there would still be enough locker for chain, but that would place heavy chain fairly high in the hull.

    Our original plan is a collision bulkhead, means a 2nd bulkhead under the double bunk, ~40cm abaft the chain locker bulkhead, so the forefoot is covered by the sealed compartment.

    Last modified: 05 Jun 2011 02:04 | Deleted user
  • 06 Jun 2011 09:39
    Reply # 613988 on 593648
    Preferred the other pic, Kurt :-)
  • 06 Jun 2011 22:25
    Reply # 614433 on 613149
    Gary King wrote:
    Annie Hill wrote:
    Gary King wrote: I guess I'm too chicken to drill a hole in the hull so close to the water. :-O

    But if it's forward of a truly watertight bulkhead, what's the problem?
    Fair enough Annie. 
    I was chicken because 'maybe' on closer inspection the self draining locker may not work on our boat. After writing my last post I realised the mast step, which sits atop the stem knee and also occupies the chain locker, has drain holes at the bottom and is another 6 or 7cm lower. Another solution would be adding another bulkhead forward of the mast, there would still be enough locker for chain, but that would place heavy chain fairly high in the hull.

    Our original plan is a collision bulkhead, means a 2nd bulkhead under the double bunk, ~40cm abaft the chain locker bulkhead, so the forefoot is covered by the sealed compartment.

    Remember that drain holes close to the waterline let water in as well as out.  My two previous boats both had forward chain lockets which drained to the sea, and they were always wet and smelly.  Indeed, on steel-built Charlotte of Lymington, the permanent damp eventually meant replacing about two square feet of hull plating.

    On Zuleika Louise I have just finished designing a pair of substantial, lidded deck boxes which will go either side of the mast and hold her two chain rodes.  My intention is that there will be no chain below decks, doing away with feed problems and leaks from hawse pipes.  The anchors, chain and warps will all be instantly available for deployment, and also instantly available for inspection. ( How often do you check your chain when in its locker?) Yes, it means weight higher up, but it will be well back from the bow, and not much more than a couple of hundredweight (100kg)  
  • 07 Jun 2011 00:54
    Reply # 614555 on 593648
    Well, yes, the fact that the water comes in as well as out is an advantage because all the rubbish gets washed out, too.  If you have large, open hawsepipes, they let in plenty of air in harbour.  Admittedly a steel boat might not enjoy such an anchor locker, especially as the chain may knock the paint off, but with wood/epoxy or fibreglass, it seems to be OK.

    How often do I check my chain in its locker - not very often, but it has to be said that it gets checked when it comes back in with the anchor on its end!  Handful by muddy handful.

    But the deck boxes sound like a good idea, too and it's interesting to see the different approaches to a perennial problem.
       " ...there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in junk-rigged boats" 
                                                               - the Chinese Water Rat

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