New chain locker for Sadler 32

[afterpegassus]

I intend to install a windlass with 60m of chain on a Sadler 32. To minimise weight topsides in the bows, I intend creating a new chain locker below, just aft of the forefoot.
Has anyone got any advice to lend on such a modification?

 

[Pete7]

Have you thought of speaking with Mike Lucas?

http://www.mikelucasyachting.co.uk/frameset.htm

Thats an awful lot of chain, I struggled to lift the 30m we changed recently, which is why we have 10m of rope to give us 40m overall, or are you thinking of disappearing off into the blue yonder?

Pete

 

[vyv_cox]

Not on a Sadler 32 but I did it on a Westerly GK 29. I must say it was not a success.

The main point is to ensure that the chain falls vertically to the lowest point. Contrary to my ideas at the time, chain will not slide down a slope nor behave in any way that assists in making it lie in the way that you want it to! The hawse pipe should only just protrude into the top of the new locker. The chain will twist, jam and need sorting out, so you need a good locker lid that is easy to use, presumably from the forecabin.

I read a good idea some years ago, which was to stow the chain in a locker almost amidships, where the fall would be greatest. It means having it run right across the foredeck but does keep the weight where you want it and would probably run best of all.

One point that would help - stainless steel chain stows itself far better than galvanised, so if buying new consider that.

 

[Poignard]

I carry 65 metres of chain which is not too much if, for example, you plan to cruise in the North Brittany area where there is a large tidal range, very strong currents and plenty of sharp rocks.

I now have it in a low level locker in the vee between the forward bunks. Directly above it is the windlass, so the chain drops vertically into the locker. The windlass is well aft on the foredeck and, being a hand-cranked Lofrans Royal, it is comfortable to be able to sit on the forehatch whilst cranking.

It all works very well but one day I plan to build some kind of wooden chute for the chain to drop down, so as to keep water and muck off the cushions. [Something like the one shown in "Cruising Under Sail" by Eric Hiscock]. Some people use a length of plastic drain pipe.

 

[James_Calvert]

I guess you're thinking of converting the forward locker under the foot of the v berths? This would obviously not be self-draining - and you'd have to trade off accommodation space/ watertight integrity/ access in some way if this was necessary. In my boat this locker doesn't drain into the bilge either, nor does the locker space aft of it, so getting any water out that gets in will be an issue.

Does seem a lot of chain and I can understand why you'd want to move its stowage aft. I had 50m + a 35lb plough on my Sadler 32 - in the standard bow locker - and noticed the difference in trim when I renewed it with a 45m length. In short the stern went down an inch or so and the bow came up.

 

[PeterGibbs]

Q Thats an awful lot of chain, I struggled to lift the 30m we changed recently, which is why we have 10m of rope to give us 40m overall, or are you thinking of disappearing off into the blue yonder?
_____________________
Right on - where are you mooring - the Mindanao Deep?

30m is the min, 40m for a little spare (ole) 50m (Bav overkill of course) 60m - get ready to submarine, I say...

Recommend against such a plan - yours is a lovely sailing boat, why not keep it that way?

PWG

 

[vyv_cox]

Depends entirely upon where you sail. I used to carry 50 metres in North Wales, now I carry 60 metres in the eastern Med and quite often have all, or nearly all of it out. At 34 ft we are not greatly larger than a Sadler 32. At a recent forum on Med cruising I encountered almost nobody who carried less and many who carried more. Nobody went down the chain plus rope route, all agreed that the security, wear resistance, cutting resistance and weight of chain was the way to go.

 

[saltwater_gypsy]

I met a guy in Greece with a boat about the same size as the Sadler32 and he had built a substantial bulb on his bow at the waterline.
When I asked him if it was a hydrodynamic addition to increase boat speed he told me that it was to keep the bow up since he had two anchors with 80m of chain each in the bow locker.
I never saw him again!!!!

 

[PeterGibbs]

Vyv,

Yup, the geomorphology of the med is just a bit different to these latitudes, and the cost of marinas is such you just have to have all that chain to anchor off..

Better get a third anchor too - just in case...

PWG

 

[afterpegassus]

thanks to all those who posted - some informed advice and some less so.
I'll probably ballast the in situ locker and see how she performs before creating any deck penetrations or re-jigging of lockers below