Save-A-Boat - The Forum for Plastic Classic Rebuilds!

I was planning next months destruction.... er.... construction and I got thinking about my anchor system again. I would like to have two anchor rodes in the forepeak and thus two chain pipes for getting the rode out. I was just wondering if the original placement of the chainplate is a good one. To me it looks like it could have been place a little further aft. I would hate to cut a matching hole and then wish for years I had relocated both. I only want to do it once.

Tim, I was quite surprised when I went back to Glissando's page to see that your foredeck pictures show no chainpipes. How do you get the anchor rode out? Perhaps a servant in white gloves feeds it up through the forward hatch? Or perhaps said servant carries the rode up on deck in a suitable container carefully flaked and ready to pay out. (I have used both methods minus the servant myself at various times - okay, I did have a servant but he quit years ago).

-Britton

Britton,

I guess I can excuse you, since I don't seem to have any clear pictures showing the arrangement, at least not under appropriate headings.

I run one rode through my foredeck cowl on the starboard side, and installed a round chainpipe on the port side for the second rode. The picture below just shows a small corner of the port chainpipe, but it gives you an idea.



I think the location of my port chainpipe is a good one--it's several inches further aft than the original cowl vent. I don't know where yours is, but further aft is usually a little better than further forward. It shouldn't be so close to the bulkhead beneath that it prevents the rode from stowing properly below--about directly over the center of the deepest part of each side (assuming you are dividing your anchor locker in two) is probably the best.

The description of my installation of the port chainpipe is here.

I've never had a servant. Would you like to apply for the job? White gloves are not needed--I use my boat like a boat, not a museum piece. I just maintain her well.

I guess I can excuse you...

Gee, that is mightly nice of you :-)

Was that cowl vent orginal to you boat or was an old chainpipe converted for better ventilation? I like the slightly further aft spot too. Hmmm.. more deck cutting... I think I can just squeeze it into my June schedule.

And speaking of cowl vents, can you swivel yours around if water starts coming over the bow or do you have to close it off or remove it? I had thought I might install a low profile facing aft (drawing air out instead of in and limiting water intake) to ventilate the locker. Sometimes I think I think too much (hehe).

-Britton

Oh, and a summer on Glissando could be quite instructive. What is the pay rate and benefits package associated with the boat servant position?

-Britton

bcooke wrote:Was that cowl vent orginal to you boat or was an old chainpipe converted for better ventilation? I like the slightly further aft spot too. Hmmm.. more deck cutting... I think I can just squeeze it into my June schedule.

And speaking of cowl vents, can you swivel yours around if water starts coming over the bow or do you have to close it off or remove it? I had thought I might install a low profile facing aft (drawing air out instead of in and limiting water intake) to ventilate the locker.

My prized bronze cowl vent was original to my boat, and located in its present location. I haven't experienced a problem with seas at this point, but would of course cap the vent off if I were going offshore. It doesn't swivel, at least not without partially unthreading the vent.

bcooke wrote:Sometimes I think I think too much (hehe).

I also think I think you think too much! hehe

bcooke wrote:What is the pay rate and benefits package associated with the boat servant position?

The pay is pretty poor, I must admit. Benefits are many, including endless viewing of my ever-present charming visage and scintillating conversation (here we go again), plenty of food and ice on board at all times, and Mt. Gay and tonics to your hearts content, all coupled with my boundless good cheer and vast experience. hehe

I keep noting that Tim's cowl would probably thread quite nicely onto one of my deck plates... D'ya think he'd notice if it just disappeared one day, to be replaced with an?ahem?nice plastic one?

Well, golly gee, I might not have noticed, but now that you've mentioned it, I'll just have to watch extra carefully to make sure my cowl sounds like bronze when I ring it...

Your own sweet bronze cowl vent is only a few bills away at Mariner's Hardware...

Tim wrote:Your own sweet bronze cowl vent is only a few bills away at Mariner's Hardware...

Hmmm. $3.43 in checking, a quarter in my pocket... I think there's about 70 cents in the car....

Think that's enough?

Have you checked the sofa cushions?

I also use the cowl vent for the anchor rode. One nice part about it is that it keeps the chain off the deck.

er, well, I suppose I should rephrase that into the past tense: I used the cowl vent. I closed over the hole during the deck recore, thinking that I might want to relocate or even do without it entirely. This determination is pretty low on my list, but it's possible that I'll have a bronze cowl vent assembly for sale eventually. A whole dollar under the Mariner's Hardware price sounds fair, dontcha think?

On the other hand.... how about a matching PAIR of bronze cowl vents, for those fond of symmetry!

Britton,

I found a better picture of my foredeck showing the placement of the cowl vent and chainpipe, for reference.

I would like it better if they were symmetrical (that is, move the cowl aft to match the chainpipe) and would probably make this change if I were doing it again.

Excellent! Thanks. I wonder if my decks will ever look that clean...

-Britton