The chain locker in the forward most part of Britannia’s bow was totally inadequate for the 250’ feet of 3/8” inch chain, that I considered a minimum for my 22 ton boat.

Every time we weighed anchor, even when only part of the rode had been hauled up the chain always piled up in the locker and jammed the windlass. Someone had to then scramble over the forward cabin beds, open the lockers equally inadequate little door, then push the pile of wet chain to one side, before the remainder could be stowed. Sometimes this had to be done twice and was very tiresome, especially when my wife and I were the only two aboard.

The reason the chain would not self stow was because the chain locker was in the steep V shape of the bow and the chain had no room to spread as it piled up. There was nothing that could be done to enlarge this space but every time it happened I swore I would somehow try to re-route the chain into one of the large compartments under the beds. These were easily big enough to accommodate all the chain and only used for storage of spare pipes and lines that we hardly ever used.

If relocating the chain could be achieved there would be an additional advantage: 250’ feet of 3/8” inch chain weighs about 420 lbs., therefore, the further aft the chain could be stowed the lighter the bow would become and it is always better to keep weight to a minimum on a boats extremities at either end, to reduce pitching.

There were two large compartments under the forward cabin bunks, the after most one being the widest and deepest. This was 33” inches deep and 21” inches fore and aft, spanning the width of the hull. It also had a solid glassfibre floor that would be ideal since the chain could spread better on the flat surface.

The question was, how to direct the chain into the larger compartment? It is four feet further aft from the existing locker and I couldn't run a tube directly from the navel hole into the new locker because it would pass straight through the middle of the double bed.

When I installed a new Maxwell electric windlass to replace the old manually operated one I positioned it on top of the bowsprit. The chain always easily rolled off the wildcat gypsy and down into the original chain locker because it was a near vertical drop. However, to get it into my new locker it then needed to make a curve and travel a further 45” inches along a tube to finally fall into the center of the new compartment. The long tube would therefore need to be angled downward enough to help overcome friction as the chain slid along it, then it would need to have a deep enough fall at the end for the weight to haul the rest of the chain, in a continuous automatic feed. I had no idea what sort of slope would be needed, or how much fall the chain needed to continuously drag itself through this pipework. Nor could I experiment with the angle of the pipes in the actual cabin because the 2” inch diameter tube had to pass through a bulkhead between the two compartments, and I didn't know where to position the pipe.

I decided to experiment using some 2” inch diameter plastic conduit pipe I bought from my local hardware store. It is amazingly strong stuff, with a wall thickness in excess of 1/8” inch, and very rigid, especially when connected together.

There was only one way I could think of to determine a suitable angle. I assembled a crude mock-up, using my work bench and a step ladder to hold the tubes. The down pipe that would pass through the old locker was 34” inches long and the pipe to carry the chain into the center of the new compartment was 45” inches long. It all looked somewhat amateurish, but it gave me an idea of what sort of angle was needed. For my experiment I used 50’ feet of chain out of the aft anchor locker, that was the same size as the bow chain. I fed it through the tubes and after a bit of adjustment I found a minimum slope of approximately 10° degrees allowed the chain to fall continuously into a pile on the floor. I took measurements and transferred them to where the hole needed to be cut in the bulkhead between the two compartments to carry the pipe.

                                                                                                               INSTALLING THE NEW PIPES

Before I could install anything I had to haul all the chain and anchor off the boat, and pile it up on the marina dock to give me a clear working space.

Luckily, the plywood base of the bunks had only been screwed to the beam structure underneath, so I removed the complete starboard side section that gave me much more space to work in. I marked where the hole needed to be in the intervening bulkhead and cut a hole using a 2½” inch hole cutter. I also had to greatly enlarge the tiny drain hole in the bottom of the original chain locker, to be able to position the 2” inch diameter curved pipe. I didn't want this to show above the 6” inch bed foam either. so I kept it at only 5” inches above the bed boards.

I found it impossible to use solid pipe to connect the navel hole on deck to the curved pipe below, because the angles were completely misaligned. I therefore bought a length of flexible truck fuel filler tubing with a 2” inch internal diameter that was just right, and I was able to join it directly to the 2” inch round flange on the navel hole pipe using a hose clamp. I then clamped the other end to the curved pipe at the bottom of the locker. When it was all assembled I had a continuous waterproof tube all the way from the navel hole on deck, straight through the old locker, round the curve and along the pipe into my new chain locker. The total length was 86” inches.

Having installed all the tubing, I still couldn't be absolutely confident that all this effort would actually eliminate the banking up problem. I had used only a small length of chain in my simulation test, but as the much longer length pilled up into a pyramid in the new locker the distance it had to fall would reduce. So the question was, would the fall still be enough to continue to self feed right to the last link? There was only one way to find out.

As I had assembled the pipework I ran rope inside to enable me to pull the first links of chain through the tubes. I passed this line over the windlass wildcat and tied it to the first link, then easily pulled the chain through the complete tube and shackled it to a hefty eye-bolt that I had bolted through the locker bulkhead. The maximum fall from the end of the pipe to the bottom of the new locker was 27” inches and the first chain landed right in the center of the locker. The base of the new chain compartment was much bigger than in the bow space and also flat. I hoped this would allow the chain to collapse itself as if built up from a larger pyramid pile.

The windlass hauled the chain off the marina dock, over the bow roller and the windlass gypsy, and it disappeared down the navel pipe. When the first links hit the locker floor the chain continued to self feed and also pile up. The chain occasionally collapsed off the pyramid as it built up, and continued to self-feed until the very last link!!  I fancied I even saw a little smile from the windlass, that would no longer have its teeth almost pulled out every time the chain jammed.

Water comes in on the chain and also passes into the new locker, so I drilled two 1” inch holes in the bottom, to allow it to drain into the bottom of the boat and into the bilge, where the automatic pump would send it back where it came from.

I wanted to make access to the new chain locker as easy as possible, in case the chain did bunch up and jamb in the pipe. The rear of the new chain compartment formed the back of a seat between the V births. So I cut a large aperture in this panel, that gives easy access to the chain compartment without having to disturb the bunks. This also does not need a door, because the seat back cushion covers it up. I just fitted teak trim around the edges.

When I put the bed mattress’ back I did have to slice a taper out of the bottom of the foam to eliminate a bump over the pipe that is now completely undetectable, when the bed is made up.

Britannia now has a completely self-feeding anchor chain system that has never failed thus far, even on the rare occasions I have anchored using all the chain.

I did receive one complaint however, from the first guests who slept in the fo’c’sle. They said it sounded like an earthquake as we weighed anchor one morning. But I didn't pay much attention, because they should have been on deck anyway, as we got the ship underway. On the plus side, Britannia’s bow came up about an inch due to shifting the heavy chain further aft.

Does your boat have an inadequate chain locker that won't accept all your chain, without having to knock the pile over? If you can manage to fix it, it will come as a wonderful relief every time you weigh anchor and all the chain mysteriously disappears down the navel pipe.

I was confident this re-directing had solved the vexing problem, but you never know because Murphy is always just round the corner.