I titled this post Anchor Locker Woes, but it should probably be V-berth Woes or Why Is This Hole Here? I’m continuing the work on removing the old interior carpet and padding from the V-berth walls and noted in my previous post on the subject the rotted wood I discovered. Well, I’ve discovered what I believe to be the primary source of water intrusion when I started pulling the rotted plywood off that covers the locker on the interior side. Caution….a couple of the following photos are graphic and might upset those who have a queasy stomach…lol.
Inside the anchor locker, there’s little drain holes in the channel that houses the locker lid. These are fine, since it allows water to drain into the locker and then out through the primary drain hole at the front. The problem I’ve discovered is another hole [directly below the lip drain hole on the port side. This hole appears to have been done by a prior owner since it’s only on one side. I also don’t believe it came from the factory like this because this hole goes directly into the V-berth. I can’t imagine why this hole would have been drilled, but I’ve plugged it to stop the water from getting into the living space.
See attached photos which might explain the issue a little further. I placed a wire hanger through the hole from the anchor locker to the V-berth.
Anyone have knowledge of this Hunter 25 and whether that hole is supposed to be there? And if so, what’s the purpose?
Your thoughts?
Mike
OK you did ask for my thoughts…my thoughts are ( from this vantage point in the other end of your five year plan) that you might want to consider locking your tools away, selling your house and boat and squirrel long every penny away you can and then going to the islands to buy a boat with the money you saved. You’re getting sucked in just like we did 😉
Deb
S/V Kintala
http://www.theretirementproject.blogspot.com
Haha Deb! If this was our cruising boat I’d wholeheartedly agree and already have listed it for sale…lol. Thankfully, it’s just a starter boat to learn and enjoy for a couple years then sell (at a profit) and get the cruising boat.
So far, I haven’t spent any significant amount of money. Just a few dollars on gloves, a wire brush, some sandpaper and wood filler. So…She’s not a money pit just yet. I know there’s potential for that to be the case, but I’m not gonna let it go that far. I’m doing all the work myself, so it’s all sweat equity. 🙂
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog updates lately. Glad there’s some forward movement with your plans!
Thoughts and Questions:
For the channel from the anchor locker lid, if water was in that channel, is it setup to drain? I don’t think that hole was really for draining water, but if that was the previous owners intention, it wasn’t really well planned out. I almost want to say there might have been a cable going through it long ago, but that’s just a guess.
Epoxy would be a good way to fill that hole and ensure water doesn’t get in there more. Unfortunately, it looks like much of that wood in the v-berth is going to need replacing, at least the forward most area. It’ll take some time but gutting the effected areas out will be a big mess but then you could get some fresh wood to replace it, maybe with a Formica veneer or just painted white. (Looks like what you have is already Formica).
Since the interior is rotting away, what about the deck? Is it cored? (as in, wood sandwiched in between fiberglass?) If the holes go through a wood core, there’s a chance there could be rot there too. From what I’ve seen online, it’s really not that hard to do that fix, it’s just really labor intensive. This is where good research really pays off. The boating forums (at least Cruisers Forum and Sailnet), I’m sure, have info from people doing it in the past.
For the yellow circle, I can only think that hole was for wiring. Maybe a previous owner routed wires through there or wired/mounted speakers for music. Just throwing out ideas/possibilities.
Unfortunately, boating isn’t all about learning how to sail but also the maintenance involved. Since this is just a starter boat, it’ll help you identify possible issues on your next boat. I hope none of this discourages you. It’s all part of the learning process 🙂
Thanks for the comment Daniel. Yes, the lid channel is set up to drain (red circle in photo). There’s a hole on both sides of that channel that drain into the locker itself. Since the lid and deck in that area is curved downward toward the sides, it naturally creates a place for water to settle if there was no drain hole there. As for the hole I circled in yellow, that’s the one that concerns…you may be right about prior owner running wires or something like that.
My plan is to remove all that old plywood and replace. There’s actually not a lot of wood up front there, so one piece of plywood is going to be plenty. Afterwards, I’ll then paint the entire interior walls with a mildew/mold resistant paint and re-cover with a carpet similar to the method used when the boat was built. I’ll first make sure I have all the water intrusion places fixed.
As far as the deck, it seems solid as a rock. No soft spots anywhere up there. Seems like the water intruded from places other than the deck so at least that work is something I won’t have to bother with.
You’re absolutely right about learning the maintenance and repairs. Believe it or not, I’m actually enjoying this process. Not gonna get me down…as long as we can still take her out and get some sailing time, it’s not all work!
I also enjoy all the boat related “work”. To me, it’s still part of the fun. 😉
As this is your starter and learning boat, you are doing well Mike. You show no fear, you’ll find wood and fiberglass work is fairly easy. MY problem is getting a good finish that matches the rest of the boat…….a talent I sorely lack and so I decided to live with my handicap. Keep it up and hope to see you guys at sea in 3 years and 2 days, my second and final retirement at 55:).
Thanks Allan..you’re right about ‘no fear’ haha! All I knew is that the old, rotted stuff had to be removed and no one’s gonna do it except me. I’ve done numerous projects in the past, but no boats yet. So I believe it’s a great opportunity to learn a lot about what works and how to troubleshoot and repair problems that are specific to boats.
As far as the finish, the forward wooden part that you see me tearing out there was covered in white Formica material, so I’ll probably just paint it white, or I may end up covering it with whatever carpet I end up putting on the interior walls.
Congrats on being close to your retirement! Hope to see you out there too!
Mike
The mysteries left by previous owners. If you have read the story of Deb and TJ on their blog or of AJ and Sarah on Venture Minimalists, you will know that previous owners foist many varied and unique problems on future caretakers. Our little boat had all the wiring replaced with AC lamp wire connected with wire nuts. We should all take a vow to leave our boats in better shape than when we get them and to not do “creative abstract engineering” in in caring for them.
Haha, Stan. I like the ‘creative abstract engineering’ comment. It’s so true, though, how people don’t always think through what’s going to be best. Rather, it seems people just do what’s convenient at the time or purposefully do it cheaply and inefficiently knowing they are going to offload the problem to someone else soon.
And yes, I’ve read TJ and Deb’s blog quite a lot…some pretty bad bummers in there. I haven’t read AJ/Sarah’s blog. I’ll check it out, thanks.
Mike
Stan,
The problem here is that most of these previous owners feel they HAVE left the boat in better shape. There are too many people that have no mechanical knowlege working on these boats. I’m not saying you shouldn’t work on your own boat even if you don’t have mechanical knowlege, but be savvy enough to do the research on how it’s to be done and ask for help. There are a wealth of books available like How Boat Things Work by Charlie Wing (more basic) and all of Nigel Caulder’s books that mean there’s no excuse for shabby workmanship. But then, I guess in this day and age pride in workmanship is a lost art.
Deb
S/V Kintala
http://www.theretirementproject.blogspot.com