Plastic Classic Forum

Tim,
I believe it is fairly clear on the daysailor site, but I just wanted to verify: does your anchor locker drain directly into your bilge? I am working on my anchor locker currently, and I am trying to determine the best drain solution for my needs. Thanks.

Yes, it does. I find this works fine on Glissando, too. The rodes just aren't that wet when they come up, and don't shed much in the way of water.

That's what I thought. My issue currently is that I have a (suposedly) dry bilge, and I have no bilge pump (or even onboard power at this point). I believe that I will have to add some a thru hull to drain the anchor locker. Do you feel that a vent with the screen removed would be sufficient, and would one on each side be necessary?

Here again, I wasn't asked, but dealing with this on my 8.7. I also have a dry bilge, and would like to keep it that way. I have to deal with really muddy anchor rodes in the Chesapeake. My anchor locker if right on the forepeak, and the drain is a 3/16 inch hole that drains out the front, above the water line, down the bow edge. It's almost un-noticeable. I plan to add a couple of additional holes on the rear corners since the boat isn't always level when it's stored on the hard and the lid tends to leak. They're small enough that I don't worry about water intrusion, and the anchor locker is a water tight compartment.

I think any basic drain works fine, as long as the anchor locker is truly separate from and watertight to the interior. As an enclosed space, it won't matter if some seawater enters during normal sailing. Be sure to keep the drain clear, though. It doesn't take much to plug one up with mud.

I use 30' of chain, which often gets very muddy. At this point, I sluice the chain down before returning it to the chain locker. The nylon rode itself rarely gets particularly dirty, so I don't worry about that. I haven't noticed any signs of much in the way of water from the chainlocker in any of the bilge areas, including the storage area just behind.