Anchor well drainage.

[AndrewB]

Is it better for the anchor well to drain direct overboard or into the bilge?

On my steel yacht, as is usual the anchor well is a separate compartment right at the forepeak. The drainage is arranged via a pipe through the foreward bulkhead into the main bilge beneath the cabin. This is a nuisance as it prevents the bilge being kept dry, and on a rough passage, even with a plug in the hawse pipe, the bilge has to be pumped every so often.

The bottom of the anchor well is about 2" above the waterline. Is there any good reason why I shouldn't drill a permanent hole through the hull into the bottom of the well, and block up the pipe leading to the bilge?

 

[Trevor_swfyc]

I often tell friends (fellow raggies) think long and hard before making any extra holes in you boat and then DON'T.

My anchor chain locker doesn't have a drain and due to the shape of the well a hole would not help as the water sits lower than bow part. I have made a false bottom to the locker and just wash it out at the end of the season. The chain now sits high and dry out of the salty water.

Your boat your hole!
Happy drilling
Trevor

 

[scottie]

if you only require to drain any water brought in with the chain it may not be a problem but if the well can fill through a open or missing hatch it will hold the bow dow down and fill the boat so drain holes to the out side would be use full in this case

i think that most boats now drain out to the sea rather than int bilge which has limited capacity

 

[jeanette]

I have a steel boat too with the potential for the same problem - except the water doesn't get in.

Don't do it. Find a better solution for the hawse pipe.


Jeanette

 

[AndrewB]

Hawse pipe suggestions most welcome.

I like the idea but ...

The top of the hawse pipe is an integral part of my SL Pacific-2000 windlass. It has an irregular shaped mouth, slightly awkward of access, and of course there is a chain leading down it. Beyond stuffing a rag in as I normally do, I can't think of any way to keep it dry. Certainly there is no prospect of making a watertight bung. And I'm not willing to unshackle the anchor and drop the chain.

What do you do?

 

[LadyInBed]

Re: Hawse pipe suggestion -

Make a canvas cover for your windlass, failing that, I would much prefer the chain locker to drain to sea rather than to bilge. To sea – self draining, to bilge – must be pumped, no contest!

 

[ean_p]

Andrew on our steel boat we intend to fit a small pump that will drain the run off water from the bottom of the chain locker and pump this out via an existing bilge pump outlet......

 

[Guest]

Can you fit a proper wooden bung into the hawse pipe? If so, consider unshackling the anchor cable, resecuring it to the inboard end of a wooden bung, then inserting the bung in the hawse pipe. The weight of the chain hanging below the bung will keep it in, and the cable will be to hand when you pull the bung out.
If you make holes in the hull, water can flood in, particularly if you have a problem and are trimmed down by the head.
Pilot

 

[Twister_Ken]

Logic says the solution is to find a way of keeping water out, rather than getting it out once in. Take a look again at the installation, and think about what changes or additions you could make to seal that hawse pipe properly.

 

[vyv_cox]

All Sadler 34s, as far as I know, have an anchor well that drains directly overboard. Mine has a hole each side, about 15 mm diameter, with a small stainless deflector plate facing aft. There is no evidence that water ever accumulates in the well, and it certainly does not penetrate the bulkhead into the accomodation.

Personally I would far prefer to have a fail-safe system like this than one that requires the use of other equipment, like a bilge pump. So long as the bulkhead is sound, which presumably you know already, I would drill a drain hole.

 

[steve]

How about leading the drainpipe back to an existing hole, like a sink drain, and attaching it above the seacock with a T or Y junction?

 

[steve_cronin]

Who designed this crazy arrangement?

Correct me if I have mis-understood but are you saying that any water finding a way in to your anchor locker ends up in the bilge?

Kerrist!! Don't go on any long passages will you? After 800 miles down the Adriatic last April we had a foredeck fender locker full of water every two days due to a faulty hatch. Fortunately the anchor locker drains overboard via a 6mm hole which is big enough to let the water drain away but too small to swamp the locker if the drain gets pressed below the water-line.

Leave a bucket of cold FRESH water in your garage or outside khazi and you will get a rusty car or cold whatsit! Just think how this salt water must be affecting the bits of your boat's inteior that you can't see!

A wet bilge isn't a desireable thing to have on anything other than a wooden hull. Close it off and enjoy damp free sailing. One little hole through the hull with a deflector over it will do the trick as regards an alternative means of draining the locker

Steve CRonin

 

[AndrewB]

Thanks Steve, I think you are right.

I've spent the winter ripping the bilges open and sorting out the mess its made. No more. If we sink nose first, it can't be worse than doing this job again.

I'm still at a loss as to why it was set up like this in the first place.