Anchor Locker Drain

R

ripple

New member
I have a 2006 22 cruiser that does not have a drain installed by the factory for the anchor locker. I just installed a hawse pipe in the deck today but I want to make sure the water that leaks into the locker will drain overboard. Can anyone tell me where it should go or post pictures showing the location that the factory installs the drain?

Thanks...
 
We have a 22' 2006 as well, but with the anchor locker drain factory installed. It is about a 1/2" hole in the bottom of the locker on the port side. Where the hole comes through the hull there is a stainless steel clamshell installed on the outside with the opening facing aft. Don't forget to seal any holes you drill!
 
I don't know about the 2006 models, but the earlier boats had to have a sleeve (tube) connecting the inner anchror rode locker with the outside opening in the hull. There was a space between the two fiberglass structures. Without the sleeve, the water just drained into the flotation chamber under the v-berth.

The sleeve or tube could be metal or rigic plastic, but must be sealed well on both ends.

Ken McCollough used a .32 caliber pistol casing for his sleeve.

It would be nice to flare both ends of the tube, but there's no easy way to flare the tube's second end once it's installed, unless you have a suitable cone shaped tool and a person on both the inside and outside of the hull so that the tube can be held rigidly (backed up) on one end and pounded with the flaring cone tool on the other.

It would also be possible to use two tubes, one of which would fit inside the other, and insert them from opposite ends after flaring them one one end.

The most important thing would be to seal the tube up as well as possible.

Probably 3M 5200 would be best for the job if applied liberally and carefully.

MarineTex 2-part epoxy could also be used.

Joe.
 
I noticed over the weekend that my 2006 cruiser didn't have a drain hole either, and mine was ordered with the hawse pipe installed, I'm surprised the factory didn't put a drain in. I'll have to look at soeone else's installation to see where they put it, and go ahead and do it now that I have all my gound tackle. Anyone have some detailed pics?

Sark
 
Our 2004 TomCat showed up without a drain hole. I noticed this and pointed it out to the dealer. The dealer drilled a hole at a low point in the anchor locker, and installed a clam shell on the exterior of the boat. They did not seal the hole, and they managed to drill too far aft and tapped into the storage space beneath the bunk. We were collecting a couple of gallons of salt water in the storage space each time we encountered bumpy water.

This spring, I drilled the hole out to about an inch in diameter, filled the hole with fiberglass epoxy, then drilled a new 3/8" drain hole, sealed the clam shell screw holes, and re-installed the clam shell. I hope to test it out next week.
 
fishbob-

Good Job!

I can understand how an average boatowner could have make the mistake of drilling straight though the hull and anchor locker without knowing of the need for a sleeve or solid filler placed between the two, but a C-Dory dealer?

Glad you've got it working!

Joe.
 
SleepyC has a drain hole. It seems to be drilled through solid fiberglass material, with no tube in place. So this weekend, I am replacing the clamshell cover, due to a "reshaping incident" last fall and decided to get up into the rhode locker and I found that the towel in the bottom of the locker was wet, (boat has been stored outside but with a cover on, and the anchor has not been deployed since early last summer.) When running the chain out, there were places where it looked salt encrusted, and the drain hole is about 3/4 inch up from the bottom of the locker.

I have read of some fixes here, but still curious if raising the locker floor level is practical, or if it would be better to just drill a new anchor drain hole. (Maybe using the existing external hole and redirecting it.)

Comments please and thankyou.

Harvey
SleepyC
 
Harvey, It lookas if I have to do the same thing. My current drain hole is a inch off the floor of the chain locker. I plan to drill ( gives me chills thinking about it) a new hole on the other side with a second clam shell.

I will start fron the inside out with a small drill. Then move to the out side and drill in with larger and larger drills to the right size. I will be doing it later today. wish me lock.
 
starcrafttom":12be0uxd said:
Harvey, It lookas if I have to do the same thing. My current drain hole is a inch off the floor of the chain locker. I plan to drill ( gives me chills thinking about it) a new hole on the other side with a second clam shell.

I will start fron the inside out with a small drill. Then move to the out side and drill in with larger and larger drills to the right size. I will be doing it later today. wish me lock.
Click to expand...

I'm thinking the drain hole is 1' above the floor because of the rounded curvature of the locker floor. Drilling it above the floor avoids going through the void between the outer wall and the curved corner of the locker compartment.

If I'm right and you drill into the corner and void, you'll have a much more difficult time, because you'll have to install a tube between the walls, seal it properly, etc. This has been doable in the past, but requires some careful work.

IMHO, it would be a lot easier to just fill up the bottom 1' of the locker and use the existing drain hole. The bottom could be filled with a form fitted piece of styrofoam, then easily glassed over.* Fine finishing wouldn't be necessary. Who looks inside your locker compartment and inside drain hole opening anyway, the Boat Colonoscopist? This assumes you don't absolutely need the 1" of space because of the size of your rode.

Another way would be to drill the hole in the floor of the existing locker, install a flange fitting with a threaded shaft to lock it in place, the connect a flexible tube from that fitting to a similar fitting on the existing hull wall, and cover it with the clamshell or one large enough to hide the fitting.

Of course, the exact solution swill depend on the peculiarities of how your set-up fits together and what types of work you feel good at and like to do.

I remember our friend of New Mexico used a .38 caliber shell casing as a tube to connect the locker with the outer hull wall a few years back!

*The styrofoam has to be coated with something before the resin hits it, or it will "melt" when the resin hits it. They used to use white wood glue, but I'm guessing there's a newer, better way to coat it.

Have fun with it!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Stop. Don't drill another hole.
I had the same issue as the drain was not at the lowest point and the hole was not sealed either. I cut a piece of old cutting board to fit the shape of the bow and sized it so when fixed in place the locker drains every drop out the existing drain. I then glassed it into place. As the resin set up, it was necessary to keep the drain open and wipe off the hull below the drain on the outside.
The net loss of storage space was not enough to worry about.
 
starcrafttom":mqu90ljw said:
I was thinking of pouring in a leveling compond like you would use to level the floor before putting down tile. Anyone have any ideas on this??
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good, simple idea!

But I'd call the factory rep at the manufacturer making the product and see if it would set up in a 1" thickness in a reasonable amount of time. It might skim over, cure slowly underneath, and stink you out of the V-berth for a month or two. Maybe anyway....

AND, you'd have a nervous breakdown from not satisfying your fishing addiction!!!:lol:

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Sea Wolf":1i8od2ux said:
starcrafttom":1i8od2ux said:
I was thinking of pouring in a leveling compond like you would use to level the floor before putting down tile. Anyone have any ideas on this??
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good, simple idea!

But I'd call the factory rep at the manufacturer making the product and see if it would set up in a 1" thickness in a reasonable amount of time. It might skim over, cure slowly underneath, and stink you out of the V-berth for a month or two. Maybe anyway....

AND, you'd have a nervous breakdown from not satisfying your fishing addiction!!!:lol:

Joe. :teeth :thup
Click to expand...

You can always fill the water tank again and have Susan pump it out! whle you wait for it to set up!! :shock:

Not a good idea BTW! :roll:
 
What about adding a hole, drilled from the inside of the locker, below and intersecting with the existing hole, prior to it's exit from the hull through the gel coat? Or is that going to go drop into a void between the locker and the hull?

Thanks again,

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
hardee":2e2wo7gl said:
What about adding a hole, drilled from the inside of the locker, below and intersecting with the existing hole, prior to it's exit from the hull through the gel coat? Or is that going to go drop into a void between the locker and the hull?

Thanks again,

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
Click to expand...

Harvey-

Good question! How would you know or tell?

If you could get under the locker to see, you might be able to get an idea and a measurement of where the void starts, but unless you've already cut out the top of the V-berth to use the space underneath for storage, you can't get to it.

I'd guess it would be worth a try to drill a very small diameter test hole to see if you can do what you're talking about. Just make it 1/8" or smaller to start with, then stop and test it. Cover over the outside hole, then try to use a soft flexible tube to flow air up against the hole and see if you have an airtight passageway. If you don't simply plug the hole with epoxy putty like Marinetex, and try another solution.

If you do have an airtight hole, now comes the problem of how much you can expand the new hole without breaking into the void.

But wait, you really don't need another hole of the same diameter as the original one, do you? All you really need is to drain the last 1" or so of water that remains below the larger hole's position. So why not drill a series of holes of the small diameter at different heights and horizontally arranged like a sieve intake into the larger hole? You can glue a piece of plastic screen material over them to prevent plugging after they're complete.

So, thinking along this line, we start our plan over again.

Start drilling the 1/8th inch holes about 1/4" below the existing hole to intersect with it. If you get a water/air tight connection, drill another hole forward and back of that hole to provide more passageways.

Then move down 1/4", and repeat the process.

If you hit the void, simply use the Marinetex and close it off.

The only problem that can develop, is if you reach the void before you get close to the bottom of the locker. You'll still have standing water in the bottom of the locker.

And then you'll have to drill a big hole through the locker side nearly at the bottom corner, + drill through the hull wall, and do the sleeve thing.

But it may be worth a try. You'll at least have some more drain holes, and at a lower area.

What looms in the back of my mind, is that the existing hole is 1" or so above the bottom of the locker for a reason, and that that reason is to avoid the void, and that the void is waiting to prove that it's there!

I can't think of a simple, practical way to determine where the void starts!

Tapping with a small hammer for a sound difference? Portable x-ray machine? Using a depth finder and transducer to note a change in the screen pattern that would denote a separation between the walls?

We could make some comparative notes with the owners of other boats, but the construction techniques changed so frequently, that what's true of a 2002 model may not work for a 2003, etc.

A couple of other thoughts:

One, you may have to switch to a Dremel tool or the equivalent tool as the drill gets closer to the bottom of the locker, as the size of the chuck will prevent you from getting the drill bit low enough to drill.

Two, a partial solution would be to always flush the locker out with fresh water after using, although that's presumably what's in there now, but there's always a lot of salt in the rope, and that's also probably where the white crust came from.

Other thoughts.

Is the boat always stored inside or fully covered? (other than when at the dealer) (I actually think you answered this earlier.)

Another avenue to think about besides being sure to "flush after using": A solar vent or small bilge pump might offer partial solutions, but are unnecessarily complex, probably.

If in your garage or covered, a 120 vac fan clamped on the top of the locker wall could circulate a lot of air to dry out the rode and locker. I'd still try to get all the salt out, first, though.

Still thinking and will get back to you later....

"Avoid the Void!"

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Joe,

Thank for the ideas. I tried probing around, (Mostly tapping and trying a studfinder.) I have opted out of the drilling a lower hole, so now I am looking at filling the bottom of the rode locker with something that will raise it and tilt it so that the drain hole is actually the lower part of the locker floor.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Harvey, I just addressed this same issue and rather than filling the void, cut a triangle piece of thick spastic cutting board and adjusted it's size till it fit rather well against the three walls of the locker with a decided slant to the existing drain hole. Then using epoxy resin with thickener added, I overlayed the entire surface. It took two applications to fill all of the edges and get a continuous solid and durable bond, but now when I pour a few cups of water into the locker it drains to dry immediately.
The trick was to seal the drain penetration first and then to block it until the epoxy began to set up, had a skin but could still be molded slightly. Then using my finger, I was able to remove the drain block and mould the surface near the drain so there would be no standing water.
Based upon my little project, I think it would be hard to achieve the same result by filling the entire void unless you did so while the boat was blocked on a slant so the level things seek would give you a slanted new base when the boat is again in the water.
 
Capn Steve said:
"...cut a triangle piece of thick spastic cutting board and adjusted it's size till it fit rather well against the three walls of the locker with a decided slant to the existing drain hole. Then using epoxy resin with thickener added, I overlayed the entire surface."
Click to expand...
That sounds somewhat like an ideas I have been toying with. Thanks for reinforcing it.

Harvey
SleepyC
 
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