Anchor locker has no drains? Collects standing water. What to do?

[rslifkin]

My boat originally just had the rode land on a piece of plywood with a drain hole. It would dump down the inside of the hull and was then guided to the forward bilge, but it was really a pretty lazy setup from the builder.

I built a proper floor and overboard drain (I used a hose to get the drain to a better spot on the hull) for it a few years ago. It didn't need to look pretty, so it wasn't a terribly hard project (you can see in the pictures that I didn't worry much about clean edges, etc.).

I cut some foam core to the shape of the panels I'd need for the floor and sides to keep it all contained. Glassed up the panels, then tabbed them in place to the hull and bulkhead with a couple layers of cloth and plenty of epoxy to make sure it's all watertight. Installed a drain in the center of the floor, faired it in with epoxy, painted the whole thing with bilge paint, then set some dri-dek tiles in the bottom. Final result looked like this (top down view). I also glassed in a U bolt to hold the end of the rode. The step in the left side was due to a slight change in my design after I'd already started building, and the overall build is slightly off-center to accommodate an A/C duct.

[wrwakefield]

As everyone else has mentioned, overboard anchor locker drainage is best if you can do it.

Design considerations include using a good sized drain (e.g., 5/8" or larger ID) if possible- to reduce tendency to clog.

A second consideration is using 2 through-hull fittings. As an example, our boat has 2 through-hull fittings in the freeboard above the waterline- on each port and starboard. One is raised slightly higher than the other to ostensibly allow it to drain if the lower one became clogged, and for overflow conditions (green water on deck, etc.) . This makes sense to me, and seems to work well for the years we have been cruising.



The through-hull fittings are covered with an aft facing clam shell to keep the bow wave from entering the anchor locker drains.



There are more details in this post if you want to delv in further.

Cheers, Bill

[Timryl]

As an aside, on the importance of the clam shells - was running down swell on a coastal cruise for a couple of days, when I lifted floor boards to find huge amount of water in the bilges - turns out, without the clam shells, the pressure of running down swell was filling the anchor locker, and not draining fast enough. Weight of water and 80 meters of chain and anchor broke the floor to drain into the bilge.
Was scary - no better bilge pump than a frightened man and a bucket

[donradcliffe]

If you put in overboard drains, be sure that the bulkhead to the anchor locker is watertight. My anchor locker used to overflow with big waves and high speeds, but I fixed that by putting a clamshell fitting opening aft over each hole.

[deblen]

A pair of these may work. https://www.ebay.ca/itm/204232361094...QAAOSwXAxi1P7j

[Searles]

Have drained chain lockers into a shower sump tank with a seperate strainer and overboard pump,not hard to set up with a high level alarm to stop overflows nothing going into the bilges.⚓️⛵️

[N43Grace]

Bill and I have sisterships with a huge, deep anchor locker sealed from the cabin by a bulkhead. I modified it with a partition to accommodate two rodes and built up the floor to the level of the lower drain hole to minimize standing water.

The offset holes, one a bit higher than the other is a good idea. The plastic clamshells are vulnerable to breaking with minor collisions with objects in the water and I think SS clamshells are better. The clamshells prevent water from streaming in while underway but the boats that have drain holes without clamshells seem to be doing just fine!

Originally Posted by wrwakefield

As everyone else has mentioned, overboard anchor locker drainage is best if you can do it.

Design considerations include using a good sized drain (e.g., 5/8" or larger ID) if possible- to reduce tendency to clog.

A second consideration is using 2 through-hull fittings. As an example, our boat has 2 through-hull fittings in the freeboard above the waterline- on each port and starboard. One is raised slightly higher than the other to ostensibly allow it to drain if the lower one became clogged, and for overflow conditions (green water on deck, etc.) . This makes sense to me, and seems to work well for the years we have been cruising.



The through-hull fittings are covered with an aft facing clam shell to keep the bow wave from entering the anchor locker drains.



There are more details in this post if you want to delv in further.

Cheers, Bill

[Senojev]

Another vote for overboard above the water line and a clamshell. I hate to bring mud aboard but it inevitable that some will come up with the chain even with with a good washdown. Would not want any water/mud in my dry bilge.

[ggray]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

We built a deck Plywood (covered with FRP and glassed in) 2' above the waterline and angled down toward the bow. We then drilled a hole in the bow at the forward (low) end of that deck. Drains quite well.

Sloping the new floor is spot on; I don't think anyone else mentioned this. Otherwise, any water will pool in the aft corners when the boat is heeled. It requires a good bit of slope to do this.

To the OP, that's the fanciest anchor locker I've ever seen! Perhaps this originally was the interior of the hull, and never an anchor locker?