Anchor locker re-design

Hey all,

I am in the process of rebuilding my anchor locker. I was hoping to get some feedback from some people on here as to what route I should take. I just put the order in for a shiny new Maxwell vertical windlass(VW10-10).

The anchor locker hatch is completely removable. One of the owners added the metal bracket that surrounds the locker cover in place of the hinges that existed on the left side of the hatch.

You can see in the photos that it "appears" very shallow, however, the base you see inside is just a solid piece of glass that sits about 3"-4" below the base of the hatch.

Here is what I am thinking:
- Remove atleast half of the interior "platform"(maybe cut the forward most section out?) to gain access to chain below
- Add new floor to provide a solid ground
- Rebuild bulkhead and glass in entire interior side(water proof wood core)
- Locate windlass base flush with deck against bulkhead(need to confirm this bulkhead exact placement)
- Windlass location could be flush with the lower "deck" with motor located in anchor locker(not ideal)
- Requires hawspipe located farther forward than existing location

Anyone have any ideas or comments?

 

So... Judging by the pics and your description, a PO had mounted a windlass to the anchor locker hatch?

I would not "bury" the windlass inside the locker, that will put wierd stresses both on the windlass and hawspipe roller as its trying to pull the chain up (or down?) instead of back. Plus a windlass motor needs cooling air and you aren't going to get it inside a stuffy, stinky chain locker.

 

I do believe the windlass was mounted to the top of the hatch. I thought about going this route, but I worry about forces on the bolts holding the hatch. In any case, accessing the bolts with the current setup means having to reach through one of the holes in the "sub floor" which would be a GIANT PITA.

I also don't like the idea of burying the windlass in a constantly wet salty environment. I am hoping that I could mount the motor on the interior side of the bulkhead in the v-berth. I do question where this will place the windlass though. You can see in the photo the white strips in-between the decking is actually part of the cabin top and has a rake to it.

If I can mount the windlass where I specified on the first image, I could easily have a "platform" where the windlass is "raised" to the correct height for the bow roller. This would also increase my chain fall height by somewhere around 3 or so inches. Doing this would also mean a slight modification to the hatch cover to have a "cut-out" for fitting around the windlass. I'd likely also have a custom hinge built so that the hatch hinges open rather than just being a free floating.

I am house sitting currently so am not at the boat(I am a full-time liveaboard) so i can't get any exact measurements or know where everything EXACTLY is located.

On a side note, any concerns or recommendations on anchor locker draining overboard? How high should the drain hole be(AWL)? What size should the drain hole be(I was thinking 1/2" or 3/4")?

Concerns or ideas more than welcome!

 

Putting the windlass on the hatch is a very bad idea for a bunch of reasons.
The usual place to put the windlass is forward of the chain locker hatch. I would look at reducing the hatch to a "D" shape from a triangle and then filling in the point and building up the underside of the old chain locker/deck to support the windlass. Prior, do all your mods to the interior chain well, doing the opposite of what you propose, cut out the back not the front. That way you can more easily observe/handle the play of the chain. Also you might not have as much space in the very nose of the bow as you are thinking.

This will make working with ground tackle tight, but there is little way around it short of fairing over the whole thing and mounting the windlass over it and then moving the anchor locker access to the bulkhead below, which is the typical solution.


On a side note, any concerns or recommendations on anchor locker draining overboard? How high should the drain hole be(AWL)? What size should the drain hole be(I was thinking 1/2" or 3/4")?

I would make sure it doesn't drain into the bilge first. lol

It needs to be at the bottom of your locker whatever the waterline is, But it doesn't matter that much as long as its a "good ways" above. It can get wet every once and a while.

 

I installed a Maxwell RC-8 Windlass on my boat a few years ago. I am trying to get a better picture of your thought process. . . Definitely will need to have the windlass mounted to the rear of the bulkhead. Is this what you are thinking? I put a couple of the VW10-10's dimensions in there for reference.



I did not see a bow roller on the boat currently. You may need to make the existing anchor locker hatch half secured to the deck and half hinged so that it can open in order to access the chain below for jams, cleaning, etc.

Figure 5/8" or 3/4" tubing and fittings for the locker drain . . . exiting the hull just port or starboard of the keel. 1/2" or less tubing may be more prone to clogging.

I'd also check the spec's for the VW10 to make sure the enlarged locker will be large enough and have the prescribed free fall for the chain.

You may want to consider the Maxwell RC-10 windlass as an alternative to the VW10, as it may be a bit simpler and space efficient to install, but you would definitely need to make much of the existing hatch area a solid portion of the deck.

Got power/heavy duty wiring to the bow? The windlass is rated @ 1200 watts ( ~100 amps !!!)