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Anchor winch leak


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What sort of contraption am I going to need to be able to stop my electric anchor winch from letting in a load of seawater?

See pic attached.

I have a canvas cover specially made,  which is fine for keeping out rain from getting in that slot when berther in the marina or at anchor, but just blows off when sailing to windward in anything above 15 knots, and quite a fair dunk of seawater (litres not dribbles) finds it way in down below and its getting in through that slot when I am sailing to windward for long enough and in wind strong enough to put the boat rail under.

 

 

Winch pic.PNG

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4 hours ago, Island Time said:

The anchor winch is not installed over the chain locker? Most just drain into the chain locker then overboard....

Yeah it is.

I moved the chain locker aft to just forward of the coach roof,  whereas most people have it further forward.  And there is no locker on deck as it were.  The chain just drops below.  I wanted the weight of the ground tackle to be as "low" as possible in the boat, hence where I put the locker where I did.

Here are some pics of my set up.  My chain falls down into a locker that sits on top of the forward part of the long keel so not sure how I can set up to drain as the locker is below waterline.

 Methinks I didn't think hard enough about my installation and what I would do about water getting into the locker as at the moment it has no way to drain out.  I suppose in my inexperience I didn't realise how much sea water can get in there on a decent beat.

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if you used a 40 mm plastic drain pipe to run the chain through you could have a y or t piece in it near the top which should allow most of the water to run away back over the side. Put a flap valve in the drain line so water won’t get forced back up it.  Might need to experiment a bit with some hard plumbing pipe but I think you could make something that works without the chain jamming in t the pipe. You may also be able to disconnect the chain from the anchor and plug the pipe for sailing but this would be a nuisance and possibly dangerous if you needed your anchor in a hurry.   

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Hmm, that locker is going to make the whole boat smell of bilge and crap. It’s impossible to keep the chain Completely clean of sand and mud etc, and it’s surprising how much water it brings aboard. There is a reason most boats have the locker forward and above the waterline.

Hawse pipes (where the chain comes in) are notorious for water ingress, and I know of one boat sunk because of it in a cyclone....

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Hmmmm, I think you would be better going to a Rope/Chain rode if weight is an issue and reinstating the locker as it used to be. The only other thing is to build a bulkhead that will enclose the anchor area and channel the water etc along with the chain into the forward locker.
Have you noticed any great improvement having the weight of the chain lower and aft of the original chain locker?

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If you really want to keep the chain locker the way you have it - couldn't you build a (sort of) dorade box that goes over the top of the winch when your sailing? It just clips on 2 sides to small teak blocks you could epoxy/screw to the deck? With clips the box would be quick to release (rather than bolts etc).

Not really a dorade type, but just a 5 sided box with a base shape that follows the decks contours closely so it's as tight/waterproof as you can get it - could even rubber gasket the bottom edges/lips if need be. But I sense you're just trying to keep the majority of the water out - not every last drop?

The water is coming in through an area on the winch an inch or 2 above the deck - so if you could reduce the water coming in under the 'box'  (at deck level) to a trickle, I would think that it wouldn't 'climb' up to the part on the winch that lets the water in?

 

You could build a 'practice' version out of rubbish leftover wood (from your last project 😃) and just tie it down next time you go to windward in decent weather and see whether it keeps the majority of the water out?

Wouldn't be hard to make the real thing out of teak or ply or even fibreglass?

 

I'm with the others though re the smell and dampness you're creating down below..............

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39 minutes ago, Terry B said:

If you really want to keep the chain locker the way you have it - couldn't you build a (sort of) dorade box that goes over the top of the winch when your sailing? It just clips on 2 sides to small teak blocks you could epoxy/screw to the deck? With clips the box would be quick to release (rather than bolts etc).

Not really a dorade type, but just a 5 sided box with a base shape that follows the decks contours closely so it's as tight/waterproof as you can get it - could even rubber gasket the bottom edges/lips if need be. But I sense you're just trying to keep the majority of the water out - not every last drop?

The water is coming in through an area on the winch an inch or 2 above the deck - so if you could reduce the water coming in under the 'box'  (at deck level) to a trickle, I would think that it wouldn't 'climb' up to the part on the winch that lets the water in?

 

You could build a 'practice' version out of rubbish leftover wood (from your last project 😃) and just tie it down next time you go to windward in decent weather and see whether it keeps the majority of the water out?

Wouldn't be hard to make the real thing out of teak or ply or even fibreglass?

 

I'm with the others though re the smell and dampness you're creating down below..............

Terry mate, excellent -- this is what I had in back of my mind - some sort of box cover thingamajiiggy that covers and it reasonably waterproof (yes keep the majority out, not every last drop), but also quick release for when I anchor. 
Make one first as a temp thing to see how it works, and then maybe make it a permanent thing out of f/glass - but was hesitant to put it forward as idea haven't seen it before on small yachts so was thinking it might be not the "done thing" for whatever reason -- so thank you very much as I think it may be the way to go, as yes, I do want to keep this ground tackle system i have with the weight well back.  I have got a hundred meters of chain, and I don't really want that right up by the bow.

THanks heaps.  It's lockdown, so while I cant go to the boat and make templates, I can sketch a few and see what I can come up with.
 

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By the way -- I've got hull / deck joint leaks too.....I spent three days drying out when I arrived in Opua over Xmas break.
And yes - the hull / deck joint "fix" is on the list for later this year, post lockdown.

 

 

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Just now, Terry B said:

Glad you like it!

 

Closures like these (most cockpit lockers have these?? Mine does)closure.jpg

I glassed in my cockpit lockers during my rebuild.  Whole I idea was to make the boat as water-tight as possible.

So - oh the irony when my boat got wet as a shag on way up to Northland this summer due to the aforementioned anchor winch leak issue, and hull / deck joint issue.
I had a chuckle about it later, but at the time when bashing my way north, I was a little peeved! Heh heh.
cheers!

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A large gob of plasticine  !!

Tried and tested by hundreds of cruising sailors. Stuff it in the hawser pipe before sailing . Lasts for ever and is close to 100 percent water tight even with big greenies ..

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18 minutes ago, idlerboat said:

A large gob of plasticine  !!

Tried and tested by hundreds of cruising sailors. Stuff it in the hawser pipe before sailing . Lasts for ever and is close to 100 percent water tight even with big greenies ..

Hey that might work until I get the box thing done that Terry recommends.
Actual kids plasticine, or proper modelling clay....?

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53 minutes ago, Knot Me... maybe said:

I was thinking the same, ish. A cunningly shaped piece of foam. Push that hard in when sailing, if u need to emergency deploy it should pop straight out without help. Maybe tie it on with a bit of string ;) Have a second you can push up from the inside when bashing into crap as a second layer of defense.

 

Thanks KM.
Ive also looked up the expanding foam idea -- which at first I thought BP was just taking the piss, but is in fact recommend by more than a few world cruisers!

The things you learn on this forum aye.   

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Yep..kids plasticine..

The coloured sticks that when they all get mixed together end up grey/ brown. !! It stays soft enough that it won't do any damage if it goes through the winch. My blob is about 8 years old .. 

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4 hours ago, Tamure said:

Personally I would get annoyed at having to plug the hole when going sailing, although to be fair you wouldn’t have to do it a lot of the time. I also wouldn’t want to go forward to plug it if got fresh. Plasticine sounds like an ok fix but a more permanent and worry free solution would be to build a locker above the waterline with drains. The next solution would be to rethink why you need such heavy duty setup on a 26ft boat. What about replacing the winch with a simple capstan and use a rope/chain rode? Would save a heap of weight up front and you could manually lift it if necessary and avoid holes in the deck.

You make some deally good points , and have given me pause.

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