lines through dog house

Phoenix of Hamble

Phoenix of Hamble

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I'm after some ideas, and lateral thinking!

I'm leading back a few lines from the mast to clutches on the coachroof by the companionway hatch.... only there is a dog house in the way!

At deck level of the dog house, there is a fibreglass box section with the forward face at an angle, and about 15cm deep.

Through this I need to pass 5 lines one side of the hatch, and 2 the other.

I've been trying to work out how to put in a neat passage for the lines, with thoughts around glassed in tubes, but would ideally like a rectangular section (with rounded corners) to make it easier and neater...I could make up a section, but that's not likely to be as neat as i'd like after glassing in and repainting.

Have also looked at various stainless steel hawse pipe options, but they are all going to need both extending to bridge the depth, and one of them modifying to mate with the angled face...

Anyone got any smarter ideas for a confident DIYer?
 
How about a digital solution? All this cutting and pulling on ropes is so analogue... Why not put in a electric winch remote operated for each line and then just have a button?
 
Twister_Ken said:
Can't you just cut away the bottom of the box section, fore and aft, to an appropriate size for the number of lines so they run across at the lowest level possible? Neaten up the edges and corners, obviously.
Click to expand...

Then any water on deck will run into the box section, which is not ideal even if it is sealed off from any other spaces. If the doghouse is original to the boat and part of the deck moulding, then the inside of it probably connects with the accommodation and you really don't want to just chop a hole in the sides.

Pete
 
prv said:
Then any water on deck will run into the box section, which is not ideal even if it is sealed off from any other spaces. If the doghouse is original to the boat and part of the deck moulding, then the inside of it probably connects with the accommodation and you really don't want to just chop a hole in the sides.

Pete
Click to expand...
And that's my problem... it'll need sealing.
 
Not entirely happy with my idea, but for what it's worth...

Cut your rounded rectangles in both faces, a bit bigger than needed for the lines. Then use epoxy and short lengths of glass tape to seal the hole - each bit of tape stuck to the outside of one face, through the tunnel, stuck to the outside of the other. Overlap the edges of them. Perhaps do one layer and let it harden to fix the shape, then add a couple more layers (in one go) to thicken it up a bit and seal any gaps. That will be nice and waterproof, but not very pretty where the ends of the tapes are stuck to the outside. Cover those bits with a piece of teak on the inside of the doghouse and one on the outside, with a slot cut out of the middle of each piece. Make the slot smaller/narrower than the glassed tunnel so that the edges of it are not visible (will also stop the lines chafing the fibreglass). The back of the teak might need the middle routed or gouged out a bit due to the thickness of the tape ends, to let the outer edge of the wood lie flush against the original GRP.

You could replace the wood with stainless, but you'd need to make the new glass flush with the old, without cutting it right off when you grind it flat. If the original layup is thick enough you could grind a rebate for the tape ends to sit in.

Pete
 
Like that idea Pete... the thing that had been troubling me, was how to finish the tunnel off flush... but a teak cap could be rebated as you suggest... i'd probably make the tunnel off the boat rather than construct on location as you suggest and then fit with lots of epoxy and a fillet to make it secure... it won't have any load, just needs to be watertight and cosmetically appealing.
 
We have exactly this situation. The previous owner fitted a section of copper pipe for each line. Looks like standard 15mm domestic copper pipe. The short sections of pipe are glassed in underneath and the gelcoat made good. It looks - on close inspection that the ends of the pipes have been slightly flared. Never had any leaks below, but a little seawater can spurt through the pipes if a biggish wall of water sweeps the deck.
 
A previous owner of our last boat had done something similar with steel tubes which were rusting away I replaced them with plastic tubing and added a couple more to allow full reefing from the cockpit. I made ply covers for each end and bedded them with sealant and had no leak problems.
 
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