Anchor Chain Locker

[crowra]

My wife and I recently purchased a 36' Albin (1987). We discovered there is no drain hole in the anchor chain locker. Does anyone know if this is a 'feature' of this year Albin? Has anyone installed a drain? Our work around is to use a shop vac to suck the water out, dry with a towel then leave open to air dry.

[jleonard]

Mine drains into the bilge

[bccanucker]

Rob: You've got me thinking. I have a 1988 36. I'll look the next time down

[Despacio]

Mine drains into a compartment under the forepeak. There seems to be no path to the bilge.

My method is to run the chain (I have all chain) into a 5 gallon bucket (with holes in the bottom) directly from the windlass. I then dump some fresh water through the chain, then put it in the locker after it's dry, when convenient.

Some trips the chain just stays in the bucket.

[crowra]

Despacio: I love a good 'work around' and your's is a great one -- sounds easier than ours. Thanks!

[Vic T]

Sorry that I did not see your question previously. Our Albin 1987 '36 had some "stains" in the v-berth when we bought it three seasons ago. We knew it had a problem in the chain locker. As you found out, it had no drain and over the years had some damage. We had a great servcie marina in Maine repair during the winter and install drains. No issues now but it could have had some serious rot on the post if not repaired. The marina was surprised that no drain holes existed.

Vic

[bccanucker]

Rob: Many thanks for posting this. Boat is new to us this past year and we haven't anchored yet.
Now note there is no drain on outside of hull. Can't move out the chain until spring but will be fixing then.

[Boatmon]

Ours is a 1982 and we did have a drain in our locker, but wa also had rot in the chain locker bulkhead. Like so much of what we did last winter it was a fairly major job but...What we did was remove the entire forward "bulkhead" scraped, painted, 1/4" plate alum on the post (for giggles) and fiberglassed in a new bulkhead made from 7/8" marine teak ply/exterior grade. Then we stripped the nasty old vinyl from the hull sides and installed new tan marine vinyl.

I understand being leary of digging into it this way, but knowing what you've got and not having doubts about the quality of areas you've worked on means a lot when you're pounding into 8-10' seas.

Plus now it looks and smells like a new cabin.

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[cdsailor]

I will be replacing Molly's anchor locker bulkhead this winter due to rot - much like that encountered by Boatmon. I'm considering the possibility of running the anchor chain right through the anchor locker and into the area under the v-berth. Has anyone done this? I like the fact that it would keep the weight down low and a little farther aft. It also has the benefit of keeping the anchor locker (and bulkhead) dry. As it is, the area drains into the forward bilge. Why not get the wet chain that much closer to the bilge?
My thought at this point, if we pursue this option, is to route the anchor chain through a PVC pipe directly from the windlass and under the v-berth bunkboard. Has anyone done something like this?