Take it out, take it all out...

[ancora]

What do you guys think of gettin' the old chain regalvanized? Have not done any pricin' yet but we do have a place in San Diego that does it.

 

[tadhana]

give it a try and let us know the pricing. We have two boats in Deltaville VA who have used a place in Richmond VA successfully.

 

[Larry M]

What do you guys think of gettin' the old chain regalvanized? Have not done any pricin' yet but we do have a place in San Diego that does it.

If you send out chain to be re-galvanized, make sure they have a shaker/tumbler or you will have links welded together when you get it back. Also, make sure you ask how much the prep is. They can't re-galvanize over paint or extremely rusted chain without removing it first.

You can do the prep yourself by dragging the chain behind your vehicle, on a dirt road for several miles.

We've re-galvanized chain three times. It's good but not great. I'd estimate it lasts about 75-80% of new, high quality chain.

 

[Donsan]

I am feeling for you salt water guys. I pulled all 200' of our chain and it looked pretty darn good for 32 year old stuff. The last 50' looked like it had never seen the water.

 

[Larry M]

I am feeling for you salt water guys. I pulled all 200' of our chain and it looked pretty darn good for 32 year old stuff. The last 50' looked like it had never seen the water.

We just replaced our chain for the second time in 8 years. If we get more than 5 years out our chain, Lena says we're at the dock to much. I can't argue with that logic.

 

[BruceK]

I cut some "Dri Dek" tiles to fit the bottom of my chain locker to help drainage and maybe keep it a bit drier down there.

I unexpectedly found a similar matting under about 2" of mud when I cleaned out the anchor well on a previous boat, using a water blaster. Matting will help, but clean the chain during recovery, before it goes into the well.

 

[ancora]

I would like to install a salt water washdown on the foredeck, but do not want another thru- hull fitting. Any suggestions out there?

 

[psneeld]

I would like to install a salt water washdown on the foredeck, but do not want another thru- hull fitting. Any suggestions out there?

I have a 1.5 inch thru hull that feeds my air conditioner pump and the raw water is teed off that...so even with the 1 inch hose going to the a/c and half inch going to the salt water pump....there is plenty of growth.

If you only have a small thru hull for the a/c system and usually are using it when pulling anchor...it might not work to well.

If no thru hulls to be had....you can mount it with 2 fittings on deck...one intake one outgoing...plug in two hoses...the intake goes over the side and output to the anchor.

Even simpler is just a 12v outlet and the whole rig in a bucket.

 

[HiDHo]

Ancora, we plumbed off the potable water pump discharge, ran 1/2" hose to the bow and use FW water to rinse off the chain and anchor.

 

[Pgitug]

I would like to install a salt water washdown on the foredeck, but do not want another thru- hull fitting. Any suggestions out there?

We put a T in out sink drain. Now we can flush with sea water and finish with fresh water.

 

[Steve]

I would like to install a salt water washdown on the foredeck, but do not want another thru- hull fitting. Any suggestions out there?

My saltwater washdown pump is fed by the airconditioning water thruhull. Our freshwater lasts a long time, I might look at switching to freshwater, changing the washdown pump supply circuit wouln't be complicated in my case. If I ever went to Bahamas I'd reverse that.

 

[psneeld]

I would think for those that use fresh water that anchoring every day or couple of days would go through water pretty quick.... yes? No?

I would probably still have both if I had plentry of fresh water unless I had a great water maker and the water is easily replaced.

Otherwise...if just rinsing ever week or so after multiple anchorings...I have an adapter for my transom shower to run a hose forward where a little soap and hot water will cut more salt than 10 just plain cold water. Especially the bottom of the locker where unless you are getting all the salt off as it comes aboard...it will still accumulate.

 

[dhays]

I would think for those that use fresh water that anchoring every day or couple of days would go through water pretty quick.... yes? No?

I would probably still have both if I had plentry of fresh water unless I had a great water maker and the water is easily replaced.

Otherwise...if just rinsing ever week or so after multiple anchorings...I have an adapter for my transom shower to run a hose forward where a little soap and hot water will cut more salt than 10 just plain cold water. Especially the bottom of the locker where unless you are getting all the salt off as it comes aboard...it will still accumulate.

My boat has a fresh water wash down which is nice. The pressure isn't all that great but it works. It appears that th PO converted it from raw to fresh and I can use raw water to wash down with the opening and closing of a couple valves. I still need to figure it out.

I have 2 x 175 gal fresh water tanks. Even with fresh water flushing of the heads, fairly liberal use of the shower, and hosing down the anchor, we still haven't had to refill our tanks in about 2 1/2 months of weekend use. I will likely do that this weekend.

Your idea of warm water and some soap is interesting. Does it really help that much? Pretty easy to take a bucket of hot water from the cockpit shower forward for those times when water is plentiful.

 

[loafs and fishes]

I cut some "Dri Dek" tiles to fit the bottom of my chain locker to help drainage and maybe keep it a bit drier down there.

Great idea, Steve. I will have to do that to my chain locker.

 

[psneeld]

My boat has a fresh water wash down which is nice. The pressure isn't all that great but it works. It appears that th PO converted it from raw to fresh and I can use raw water to wash down with the opening and closing of a couple valves. I still need to figure it out.

I have 2 x 175 gal fresh water tanks. Even with fresh water flushing of the heads, fairly liberal use of the shower, and hosing down the anchor, we still haven't had to refill our tanks in about 2 1/2 months of weekend use. I will likely do that this weekend.

Your idea of warm water and some soap is interesting. Does it really help that much? Pretty easy to take a bucket of hot water from the cockpit shower forward for those times when water is plentiful.

If water is the universal solvent, hot water seems mo'better....and for salt, a little soap only adds to the cleansing.

For those of us that have salted roads all winter, I used to hose off the car every chance I got. The trouble was, after it did, there was still a salty film. So I would run a hose from the garage deep sink hot water, and almost all the salt would disappear. Use one of those hose sprayers with a couple drops of laundry detergent and the shine would return if I didn't wash off all the wax.

Even an engine flush is supposed to be mediocre at getting all the salt off things once it has dried...thus all the "salt away" type products.

If rinsing the chain as it comes up...fresh water sprayed is probably pretty effective...but the way my bow is set up....salt spray gets into the chain locker sooner or later.

So I just rinse the mud off with raw water (often brackish anyway), then if the chain will sit for weeks or more...it gets pulled out, washed, inspected, touch up galvanize, markers replaced if necessary, and flaked well in the locker after the locker has been rinsed.

 

[FlyWright]

I would like to install a salt water washdown on the foredeck, but do not want another thru- hull fitting. Any suggestions out there?

My RW washdown is plumbed via a T on the head RW thru hull. That RW washdown line runs to the bow and to the cockpit for RW washes. The RW washdown pump is controlled by a lighted switch at the lower helm. More than once that light has reminded me that I left the switch on.

 

[ancora]

Contacted the windlass manufacturer, and was told 5/16" G4 will fit the wildcat. Went to the chandlery and borrowed a test length they keep on hand and it fit better than the 3/8" BBB we have, so we ordered the 5/16" G4.

 

[ancora]

Replaced 220 feet of 3/8" BBB with 150 feet of 5/16" G4 and our boat is no longer "bow down." Amazin' what a difference of 200 odd pounds in the bow will make.

 

[FlyWright]

Good news! Another happy ending!