Anchor Chute / Roller / Windlass Question: Advice Needed

[captmarc]

Like all "little boat projects" that you think are going to be easy, but then they turn into $2000 in tools, $2000 in parts, bloody knuckles, swearing fits, cold sweats and looks of distain from your neighbors, until you finally say Screw it!, and hire the "MAN" only to spend double what you spent on tools and parts in the first place, Here I am!!

Found a sweet Delta 22 lb anchor to replace my Danforth which wasn't coming up all the way on my Simpson Windlass, only to discover that the stock anchor chute and roller was bent. A little handy work with some big a## plyers got it back close to normal, removed the Danforth and installed the Delta, ran it up and "Clank!", too big.

OK, no big deal, just replace the anchor chute right? Wellllll, on my sweet most awesome Maxum 2900 SCR 2002 model with bow pulpit, the bolts that hold the anchor chute to deck are WAYYYYYYYYY up front on the pulpit, and you need to be about 100 pounds soaking wet with 6 foot long arms and the patience of Mother Theresa to get those nuts off! I am 6'2", 275lbs and cold barely get one shoulder into the anchor locker....

Not only that, looking at Lewmar anchor chutes for Delta anchors, they are 3 1/8th inches wide, my anchor chute width is about 2 1/4... channel sunk into the fiberglass pulpit.

So the question for you good folks is, 1. Do you have a recommendation for a 22 lb delta anchor windlass chute that will fit my boat (part numbers would be even better!, and how the hell do I get those nuts off? Most appreciative of any advice. Thanks

[seapuppy]

Wow!!...now there's a first for me...I've never seen an anchor that didn't fit in the roller..of course we use the proper sized anchor for our boat...if anything a bit small but rarely do we anchor...
as for how to get the bolts off..bout the only thing I can suggest is to hire a 10 yr old or maybe a teeny little oriental sumo wrestler to slide down into the locker...can you gain access thru the salon??...I know on my boat it has an access there....

go to westmarine.com and they have an achor roller there....

SP irate:

[Tommyfmu]

I went through anchor trial and error early this past summer. The boat came with an 8 lb Danforth fluke, but it broke free during the most innopportune time, like sent us drifting into another boat during 4th of July fireworks in a local bay.

After speaking with lots of folks, many swore by the Delta type plow anchors, so we determined that a 16 lb should be more than suitable, especially with our 10 ft of chain.

It completely didn't hold our boat at all even after trying to set it properly, etc.

I then decided just to revert back to the next size Danforth Super Hooker fluke, 16 lbs I think, and voila, not one iota of a problem anymore. It has held like a rock even in a lot of wind and chop.

Not sure if that helps regarding your particular situation at all, but it turned out to be a simple solution for us, and eventually we sold the extra anchors we tried on Craigslist and Ebay.

Good luck.

[shrew]

To replace my old bow roller on a 97 2800 SCR, I had to remove the bulkhead in teh v-berth seperating the v-berth from the anchor locker. This builkhead has a small hatch that requires a mid 16th-17th century 9 yr. old chimney sweep to crawl through. The bulkhead is really just a padded plywood panel that can be removed. Behind it is the real bulkhead which is twice as wide as the anchor locker hatch. Removing it also allows you to avoid the hatch from dropping on you in the process. In my case, I had to remove the maxazine cubby and panel in the v-birth along the port side in order to then remove the panel covering the anchor locker bulkhead.

then the fun part comes. I filled the anchor locker-well with old blankets and ran some old carpet remnant over the bottom of the bulkhead so when I crawl in there I don't have to lay my back on the edge of the plywood locker. I had to hold all tools and hardware in one hand and lead with that hand. There is no room to move. I had to have the person on the pulpit open the anchor line housing so I could breath a bit. (After asking him not to straddle the anchor hawsing as he sits up there. OK, I know this part seems silly, but think about where his 'junk' is as he straddles the anchor hawsing and think about where your mouth is breathing. )

You only get one hand and you better stage your tools and hardware in there before you go in. You'll most likely be working with your arm straight out and you will need to work by feel. Go slow, because dropping something means backing out and re-staging.

A small boy would fit better, but do you want a 12 yr.s old installing your bow roller?

[captmarc]

Shrew, thank you. I didn't think about removing the bulkhead. Was thinking about a couple of extensions on a socket, but that won't work as you need to put washers on the bolts. Your solution sounds great (ok, it sounds awful, but at least it is a solution.). Junk breath sounds horrible, may have to have my wife on the deck instead...

Could you elaborate a bit on how you got the bulkhead off?

[captmarc]

Also, do you think this roller would work: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... K:MEWAX:IT

[shrew]

Accessing the Anchor locker:

This is goingt to be tricky, not only because every model is different, but models of different years will also be different. Keep in mind this is what I did on a 97 2800, but results may vary.

Where the deck meets the hull, there is an overlapping seem that is glued, caulked and bolted to attach the entire deck to the entire hull ( I know this is obvious, but bare with me). They then screw the track for the run rail into the overlapping seem and (at least my rub rail) slip the rubber into the track and seal the whole thing together. The rub rail essentially covers up the seem on the outside. On the inside, they placed upholstered panels which cover the seem. This also covers where the upholstered headliner meets the carpetted hull on the interior. They screwed these upholsetered panels from outside the boat, through the deck/hull seem into the back of the upholstered panels to hold them in place.

To do this job properly, you realkly should remove the rub rail, identify the screws which hold the panel in place, then back them out. Like any job, the right way is typically more expensive and more labor intensive.

The anchor locker bulkhead is a piece of fiberglassed marine plywood which is integrated into the boat. however it is being covered by another an upholstered panel that also has the anchor locker hatch on it. I couldn't remove the upholstered panel because it was installed first and the panels which run along the Port & Stbd covering the deck/hull seem were installed second. I needed to remove the long panels along the inside first before I could remove the panel covering the anchor locker bulkhead.


Pucker Factor: There is a right way and a wrong way to do everythning. The right way is usually more labor intensive and costly. You should remove the section of rub rail (at least the rubber piece), then identify the screws which are screwed through the deck/hull seem and into the back of the panels. If I were to remove the rubber rub-rail, I would use a blow-dryer or heat gun to warm up the rubber rubrail first. Be careful with the heat gun, we don't want to discolor gelcoat.
I chose to remove the magazine cubby from the vbirth, by unscrewing the screws which adhere the top of the magazine cubby into the coring of the deck at the top of the magazine cubby. I then literally ripped the inside panel covering the seem running along the port side. I had to recaulk the screws from the inside. To reinstall I used 3M velcro (the hard core stuff) to reattach that 'seem' panel. It works fine.

To remove the upholstered panel covering the anchor bulkhead you have to crawl inside a bit and feel around. Again, they screwed from inside the anchor locker, through the bulkhead into the back of the panel covering the anchor locker bulkhead. Once the screws were removed, you can now remove the panel itself. In my case, the panels running along the port and Stbd covering the deck/hull seem were preventing me from simply removing the panel covering the locker bulkhead. I would remove the screws afixing the locker bulkhead panel and see if you can remove it in one step first, then decide if you need to dissasemble further. I don't recommned ripping out the deck/hull panels, but the screws for mine were already rusted a bit due to a leak, so I essentially tried to fix the leak at the same time.

[Tommyfmu]

Originally Posted by shrew

Where the deck meets the hull, there is an overlapping seem that is glued, caulked and bolted to attach the entire deck to the entire hull ( I know this is obvious, but bare with me).

After trying for some time to figure out how our cabin floor ends up soaking under the floorboards, we narrowed it down to occurring only after cruising through choppy conditions and not a result of leaking stopcocks or seawater lines. What the possibility that the seawater could be piling in through where the deck meets the hull as described above? That never occurred to us but would make the absolute MOST sense. Thanks for opinions. Tom.

[seapuppy]

it's highly possible that the rub rail is allowing water in thru the joints....with that said...using a hair dryer or a heat gun....warm up the rubber insert and carefully ..using an awl...pry out the rubber...you'll see where they used screws to join parts of the sections together...remove those screws and apply 4200 silicone sealant in the holes and along the ctr of the rail....also fill any rivets you run across .......then gently use a rubber mallet to tap the rubber insert back into the rail.....then apply a bead of silicone 4200 along the top and bottom of the rails....being careful to not use tons of 4200...you can smooth the tops and bottoms to make a nice instl....

beware that when you remove screws...sometimes they are also holding panels inside and they can fall...have someone in the salon to catch and replace those long screws....

once that's done..you should be ok with the leaking..


SP irate:

[Tommyfmu]

Thanks SP, we will definitely undertake that project over the Winter or Spring. I wish it was that simple and we could be done with the leaking problem, but unfortunately I went to the dock over the weekend, and after just sitting at the dock without being run for a week, the floor was soaked yet again, so the choppy water theory is now dismissed.

At the pump out station I took the liberty of also pumping out the aft bilge because of a sheen of oil that the bilge pump just couldn't get rid of due to its weight and floating. I then saw a bunch of water flow back from forward as I was pumping out. Is the front bilge and space under the floorboards connected to the aft bilge? I've never thought the two were connected, but this is all new to us and all theories about leaking sources have been shot down.

Thx, Tom.

[shrew]

Both rain water and heavy chop can work it's way in. I have the same problem. It won't be easy. your best bet would be to wait until you've had a number of consecutive warm, dry days. Make sure the boat is bone dry. Then have someone use a hose to spray/pour specific areas, while someone else is below checking that area. You will find it eventually. Anyplace where two seperate parts are married are suspects. EVERYWHERE. Every hatch, along every inch of rubrail.

If chop and rain gets in, then the water from a hose will eventually get in as well. You almost have to catch it in the act. Empty the lockers and check in there too. Even if the things in the locker don't traditionally get wet, water could be wicking past those items on its way to the final destination. I had a locker full of sweatshirts, fleece jackets and blankets, but only ONE sweatshirt got wet. It wasn't the one on the top OR the one on the bottom. Go figure THAT one out.

(This may make a good 'new' topic to avoid further hi-jacking of the bow-pulpit/anchor topic).