Fitting a chain boy to motorboat

danieleither

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I have a Fairline Targa 40. I want to install a chain-boy to the anchor locker and I am wondering what would be the best way to fit this?

As can be seen from the the images, the normal method is to bolt through 3 holes on the mounting tabs. The chain boy needs to be mounted directly beneath the windlass (so that the chain falls naturally to the centre of the dome). The windlass is offset from the centre of the locker. I have attached an image of the chain hanging naturally, which demonstrates the required centre-point. This would mean bending the mounting tabs and bolting one through the side of the hull (yellow shading in image) and two through the base of the locker (red shading in image).

My question therefore, is what is below the base of the anchor locker (red shading)? It appears to be a sealed cavity which I can not access from inside or outside the boat. Is it safe to bolt into this (using self tapping bolts for example)?

Alternatively, does anyone have suggestions for a different or better method of mounting the chain boy, or perhaps someone has fitted one of these before and can share their fitting experience?
 

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Elessar

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I have a Fairline Targa 40. I want to install a chain-boy to the anchor locker and I am wondering what would be the best way to fit this?

As can be seen from the the images, the normal method is to bolt through 3 holes on the mounting tabs. The chain boy needs to be mounted directly beneath the windlass (so that the chain falls naturally to the centre of the dome). The windlass is offset from the centre of the locker. I have attached an image of the chain hanging naturally, which demonstrates the required centre-point. This would mean bending the mounting tabs and bolting one through the side of the hull (yellow shading in image) and two through the base of the locker (red shading in image).

My question therefore, is what is below the base of the anchor locker (red shading)? It appears to be a sealed cavity which I can not access from inside or outside the boat. Is it safe to bolt into this (using self tapping bolts for example)?

Alternatively, does anyone have suggestions for a different or better method of mounting the chain boy, or perhaps someone has fitted one of these before and can share their fitting experience?
what is it and what is it for? ie what is the problem you think it will solve?
 

vas

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what is it and what is it for? ie what is the problem you think it will solve?
helps on a tight chain locker in "arranging" the chain without piling all the way up and blocking the hole when retrieving
Have built one, worked fine on 80m of 8mm chain, but now with 90m 10mm chain it's struggling...

cannot help in mounting it as my boat is timber/ply so was easy to mount on
 

Hurricane

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helps on a tight chain locker in "arranging" the chain without piling all the way up and blocking the hole when retrieving
Have built one, worked fine on 80m of 8mm chain, but now with 90m 10mm chain it's struggling...
Yep - it is actually a problem.
We don't have one and the chain builds up into a pile when being recovered.
SWMBO's job - she does the anchor recovery.
So every 30m or so, she jumps down into the locker and kicks the pile over.
If left, the pile will reach the windlass and probably cause damage.
We have 150m of 12mm chain in the locker so, every now and then, it all comes out and SWMBO repacks it neatly in the locker.
We did that recently (over Easter IIRC) whilst the boat was in the boatyard.

One solution, of course, would be to have stainless chain which I believe it slips better and doesn't pile.
 

vas

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One expensive solution, of course, would be to have stainless chain which I believe it slips better and doesn't pile.
there fixed it for you Mike :)
actually planning to cut 10m as I don't really need that much to give some space in there. My locker is v.small.
 

danieleither

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what is it and what is it for? ie what is the problem you think it will solve?
As others have stated, the chain falls neatly around it and prevents it tangling and jamming / knotting up - which is a persistent problem for me between anchorages. 90% of the time I am solo boating, and even the slightest bit of rough seas my chain will tangle up and jam, meaning you arrive at your anchorage - align everything up, then go to drop the anchor and you can only get a few metres out! It took me over an hour to free it one time, and this is incredibly difficult when you're on your own, trying to manage a boat and hang down into an anchor locker at the same time (especially when you can only get a few meters out due to it being tangled so the boat is drifting freely). I also see it as a safety issue - if I lost engines in rough seas and needed to deploy as an emergency, a jammed anchor chain could be the difference between a relatively safe recovery and total loss on the rocks.
 

Hurricane

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actually planning to cut 10m as I don't really need that much to give some space in there. My locker is v.small.
A couple of years ago, I cut a few meres off the chain but I cut it off the anchor end so all my little plastic markers were out - Doh!!
That was before the latest success in a DIY chain counter.
As I said, we had it all out at Easter - the little plastic markers went back in - even though the chain counter works!!
 

danieleither

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This is the solution that I'd recommend. I believe it's like butter and won't form a pile at all.

If the OP only ever uses 10m of chain then perhaps just replace 10m of Galvanised with S/S.
Personally, I don't think 10m of chain is enough in any situation. I only ever stay at anchor (never visited another marina) so when I anchor, I'm usually anchoring for several days & nights. I often see people turn up for lunch and lay out inadequate amount of chain and subsequently end up dragging around the anchorage with a look of confusion.

I currently have 70m of 8mm galvanised. The absolute minimum I would lay out in any situation is 20m, with typical use being around 30-35m, however on occasions I do use the full 70m (e.g. when offshore fishing) and could do with more (e.g. 100m as I am sometimes fishing in 30m depth, for which 70m of chain doesn't give a good hold). So if I was to replace the chain with stainless, I'd be looking at 100m of stainless which is the best part of £3000. I'm happy to spend this if it will fix the issue 100%, however that's a lot to spend (v.s. £250-ish for the chain boy)
 

Elessar

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I anchor a lot but have never had this problem when dropping anchor.
Sometimes had to kick the pile of chain when retrieving but it’s never reached the top of my “problems to be fixed” pile.
 

Martin_J

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I was going to ask where you got a stainless ("effectively a small traffic cone with a rounded top") Chain Boy from...

Then I found them at Force 4

Screenshot_20230515-165047_Samsung Internet.jpg

I had been considering similar until I saw the price.

I do however use of these things shown below on the dinghy seat to stop rain pooling in the cover..

Screenshot_20230515-165350_Samsung Internet.jpg

If only they did them in stainless for less than the cost of the Chain Boy.

Sorry can't help with bolting down ideas but it does need to be central to where the chain falls.

Could you have a wheel (like on a bow roller) mounted below deck to pull the falling chain back just a few inches to at least get it laying further aft... then maybe mount the Chain Boy under it on the flat locker base.
 

danieleither

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I was going to ask where you got a stainless ("effectively a small traffic cone with a rounded top") Chain Boy from...

Then I found them at Force 4

View attachment 156495

I had been considering similar until I saw the price.

I do however use of these things shown below on the dinghy seat to stop rain pooling in the cover..

View attachment 156496

If only they did them in stainless for less than the cost of the Chain Boy.

Sorry can't help with bolting down ideas but it does need to be central to where the chain falls.

Could you have a wheel (like on a bow roller) mounted below deck to pull the falling chain back just a few inches to at least get it laying further aft... then maybe mount the Chain Boy under it on the flat locker base.
The chain guide is a nice idea - guide the chain into the middle of the locker where it is easier to fit the chain boy... I still need to know if its safe to bolt into the floor of the locker though...
 

danieleither

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I anchor a lot but have never had this problem when dropping anchor.
Sometimes had to kick the pile of chain when retrieving but it’s never reached the top of my “problems to be fixed” pile.

The chain piling up is NOT the issue (someone else posted that). The issue is when I hit rough water and the boat slams, the chain tangles itself up and gets knotted
 

Elessar

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oops just realised I misread your post :D
Well OK I'm going to admit to mistyping it a bit.

I've remembered that I did have a problem with jamming on deployment but that was when there was some corrosion on the chain making it a bit rough. Replacing it with galvanised fixed it.

The problem was the drain hole is an inch or so above the bottom of the locker and the chain sat in sea water.

I cut a bread basket corner off to fit in the bottom of the locker and it keeps the chain off the base. It just sits there loose. As the corner sticks up it does a bit of your chain boy thing for free!

Is your chain corroded at all?
 

jfm

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You can bolt/screw into that red panel - it's plywood, 16-19mm probably, with nothing but a void beneath it.

If you want to fit it, then just get a new s/s plate welded on the bottom, triangle shaped, so it fits where you want it.

But I'm very sceptical that this boy device will fix your problem. The solution is stainless steel chain as others have said. This flows like cream into the locker and never jams when letting chain out. I have had s/s chain on my last two boats and will have it on my next boat, for the safety+convenience reasons you already mentioned, and wouldn't have anything else.
 

danieleither

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You can bolt/screw into that red panel - it's plywood, 16-19mm probably, with nothing but a void beneath it.

If you want to fit it, then just get a new s/s plate welded on the bottom, triangle shaped, so it fits where you want it.

But I'm very sceptical that this boy device will fix your problem. The solution is stainless steel chain as others have said. This flows like cream into the locker and never jams when letting chain out. I have had s/s chain on my last two boats and will have it on my next boat, for the safety+convenience reasons you already mentioned, and wouldn't have anything else.

Thank you - I am totally fine with replacing with stainless IF it will fix the problem. I'm going to call Jimmy Green tomorrow and see what their take is on the issue...
 

danieleither

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Well OK I'm going to admit to mistyping it a bit.

I've remembered that I did have a problem with jamming on deployment but that was when there was some corrosion on the chain making it a bit rough. Replacing it with galvanised fixed it.

The problem was the drain hole is an inch or so above the bottom of the locker and the chain sat in sea water.

I cut a bread basket corner off to fit in the bottom of the locker and it keeps the chain off the base. It just sits there loose. As the corner sticks up it does a bit of your chain boy thing for free!

Is your chain corroded at all?

Not really - but its galvanised which isn't a smooth finish, and certainly could contribute to tangling and knotting.
 
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