Anchor locker Part 2 - done!

Today I sealed-up the hatch in the v-berth to the anchor locker with a 1/2" sheet of ply that was sheathed on both sides in fiberglass,  covered the entire bulkhead on the anchor locker side with 2 layers of 1708 biaxial, and then gelcoated the whole locker interior. I also cut two triangles from an old rubber door mat to line the bottom of the locker, to improve drainage and promote interior drying. The gaps at the top of the bulkhead where the power wires for the navigation  lights passed through were sealed up too, to be replaced with proper waterproof grommets fittings later.

The video shows the anchor locker drain holes too - I made them 1.5", bigger than what's conventional but I figured a larger hole drains faster.  The thickness of the hull was impressive here -- about 1" of solid fiberglass. 

The drain holes are located about 10" above the waterline at the bow, so I suspect the locker will flood -- and drain -- on a normal basis when there's a decent wake. A limberhole of the same size was cut in the center divider too, so water can drain out of the locker from either side of the bow. This arrangement of drain holes should keep the locker largely clear of mud, shells and other debris that doesn't get washed off the anchor and chain before being stowed below.

Making the template of the center divider in the anchor locker. Another template was made for the locker floor.

Trace around the template onto a sheet of marine plywood

I had to cut it into two overlapping glued pieces since it would not fit as a single piece

Sheathed the plywood: 1 layer of chopped-strand followed by 2 layers of 1708 biaxial

Locating the drain holes for the anchor locker, about 10 inches above the waterline

The edges of the divider were protected by glassed-in "bumpers" made of split sections of PVC pipe stuffed with fiberglass filler and placed over the edges to set.

Anchor locker finally done. 

I'm going to put a wash-down hose in here, and a stainless padeye where the anchor rode terminates. It doesn't have to be a super-strong connection since the weight of the anchor and line will be taken by a cleat on deck. It is suggested in fact that the end of the anchor line should have a float and 100" of floating line attached to it, so that if you ever have to cut the anchor line in a hurry (avoid another boat that is dragging anchor, for example) the float will deploy as the anchor rode sinks, so you'll hopefully be able to retrieve the anchor  and rode later. I'm not really bothering with all that, since having such a shallow draft means I won't need to anchor in deep anchorages anyway. But I'll put a cheap ceramic knife in the locker along with a flashlight so I can find things in there in the dark.  

Since I'm going to be keeping things other than ground tackle in the anchor locker, I'll need to figure out a way to suspend docklines etc from the locker ceiling too. Maybe some webbing with snaphooks...

I also made sure that the deck cleats and their backing plates will fit nicely near the sides of the hatch, close to the bulkhead  and hull underneath for additional strength. The backing plates were made with G10 board, and had beveled top edges so as to not create hard spots.

8" deck cleats, with G10 backing plates

Flush fitting the hatch lock

The holes on the deck for the chain pipe will be cut later when I install the windlass. The chain will fall down along the stem of the boat with what I think is sufficient angle to prevent it from castling (creating a big pile then falling over on itself.)