Anchor locker issue

I did similiar with some sort of plastic tiles I found in the marina skip. Easily cut with a stanley knife. The 10mm or so of water is still there, but now the chain doesn't sit in it.
 
I would prioritise modifying such that you end up with a dry locker. Either fill and lift the base or lower the drain hole. If you already have clam shell covers they are easy to remove, fill the old hole and make a new one, probably bigger, and replace the clam shell cover.

If you leave water in the locker the chain will always be damp, the locker base will always collect mud, which will be difficult to remove. The water in the damp locker will evaporate and condense on the locker 'walls' and cover and drip over the chain - perfect environment for you to need to start a 'how do I regalvanise my chain thread' :)

Whilst you are at it - look for fibre glass grating offcuts. (Google fibre glass grating). It makes a perfect base for a chain locker. Its tough and can be, relatively, easily cut. It will allow the chain to drain and increase airflow, marginally.

Anything you can do to ensure the chain is clean and dry will increase its life. You have much better things to spend money on, than new chain.

Jonathan

fibre glass gratings, come in 8' x 4' sheets (slightly more than you need :) ). They are used in marinas (pontoons and bridges to pontoons) and drain through decking, by local councils, pathways to protect grass and I assume in factories, maybe abattoirs. Here our local council use them for paths in parks. Lots of suppliers - Lockers supply them here - and Lockers used to be a UK company (though I knew them for their vibrating sieves). The other option - chop up a milk crate. We use chunky perforated rubber door mats.
 
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Are the drains in your anchor locker in the hull topsides or, like mine, in the floor? The top of my drain fittings stand about 5mm proud of the floor. Its on my to do list to replace them with lower ones as I've already done with some deck drains.

In the meantime I glued some plastic battens to the floor of the locker and then upcycled some abandoned bread delivery baskets to hold the anchor chain and the other gubbins I store in there above the inevitable puddles.
 
Are the drains in your anchor locker in the hull topsides or, like mine, in the floor? The top of my drain fittings stand about 5mm proud of the floor. Its on my to do list to replace them with lower ones as I've already done with some deck drains.

In the meantime I glued some plastic battens to the floor of the locker and then upcycled some abandoned bread delivery baskets to hold the anchor chain and the other gubbins I store in there above the inevitable puddles.

Good idea. There are a number of similar options - but confess had not though of installing battens underneath.


Why boat builders arrive at chain/anchor lockers that allow puddles to be retained (and is common) is one of those unanswerable questions.

Jonathan
 
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