Chain Locker

                                                               Chain Locker

This is a fancy word for a box, anchor bin, where the anchor chain and rope will be stored in.
The Storebro is not outfitted with a anchor bin for storing the anchor chain.
When I cleaned the the bottom of the boat out I found a lot of sand and dirt which could potentially block the bilge pumps.
Originally the anchor chain just was dropped in the forward part of the forward cabin ending in the bilge of the boat.
Since I did not think this was a good idea and also to keep the bilge clean  I decided to build a anchor bin which can hold the anchor chain .
The box was made from water resistant multiplex and inside coated with two component epoxy paint , several layers.

The anchor bin was build in such a way that it had sloped walls to guide the chain to the bottom as well as a hatch was made to be able to check and clean the anchor bin.

Two drains were added to be able to drain the water which might enter the anchor bin.

The Anchor bin had to be installed before the forward bulkhead could be fitted , the unit would not fit through the doors. The Anchor bin is connected to the deck beams with special wood thread bolts.

Although not seen on this picture some additional supports have been added to the bottom of the Anchor bin.

The forward bulkhead was temporarily installed to check if the anchor bin could be reached from the forward cabin for cleaning and inspection.

After installation of the anchor bin the position was decided where the anchor chain could go through the deck. Although originally this entrance is slightly to starboard side from the center line I decided to place the entrance in the center line,

To protect the wood of the deck and sub deck from water ingress the hole for the anchor chain was protected with glass-fiber cloth and epoxy 

When finished the deck was de-greased and the wood support for the hawse pipe.

I decided not to place the hawse pipe directly on deck as original but to place it on a wooden support to bring the hawse pipe slightly above the deck this way preventing water entering the anchor bin during a normal rain storm. Further it has now the same installation as the escape hatch on the forward deck 

As usual the wood was screwed temporarily in place and then the deck and wood were taped to prevent that caulking would go over the wood which would result in extra cleaning.

Wooden support was removed and the holes for the screws filled with caulking to prevent water ingress which could result in starting to rot the deck while one will not notice this.

Excess of caulking was removed when the wood was screwed in place and at the same time all tape was removed as well.

The next step was to install the Hawse pipe, which is original and has been re-chromed.

The screws seen in the pictures will be shortened when I will install a stainless steel chain to keep the cap of the Hawse pipe near the deck penetration.

 

Propeller Polishing

                                                    Propeller polishing.

Although a lot of stories from individuals can be found on the internet is not touch the propellers
and especially do not clean or polish them.
One of the explanations is that the propeller can get in unbalance and that it will create damage
to the bearings.
Well in case of the Storebro there are no bearings involved in the propeller shaft except the outer bearing which is lubricated by the surrounding water further it is a free shaft which is connected
by a semi flexible coupling to the engine.
Important is of course that the propeller shaft is in line with the outgoing engine shaft.
A smooth and polished propeller can reduce your fuel cost with 3 to 5 %, and with the
old engines I have every liter/gallon is one.
Further a propeller with oxidation creates a rough surface, which not only can create cavitation
 but also extra noise.
Therefore the decision was taken to clean and polish the propellers.

Although difficult to see from attached picture the surface of the propeller is very rough.

The tools I used for cleaning and polishing the blades is not a metal wire brush or sand paper since I do not want to remove any of the metal of the propeller just the oxidation.

I used for this cleaning nylon brushes which do remove very slowly the oxidation, this is a slow process and takes time but it does remove what needs to be removed in my opinion..

As can be seen from the below picture the propeller is cleaned but still a discoloring can be seen which indicates that I have not polished till the bear metal but just removed the oxidation.

The below picture shows in better detail that the blades are clean and smooth but still some surface roughness can be seen, to remove this one needs to use sand paper or another mechanical means to remove this , which will result in removing metal, what I do not want to do.

At the same time I cleaned the rudders from oxidation no specific reason 

but it looks nice for the picture.

Finished product of two cleaned propellers and rudders.