Anchor, Chain Locker, and Anchor Roller, Part 13, Chain Locker Panel, Part II

The chain locker panel, ready for installation
Having installed the anchor and the anchor rode, I could now install the chain locker panel. This installation involved more than just screwing the panel into place. The steps I took in the installation of this panel on Oystercatcher, my Ericson 25, are the subject of this posting.
I began by removing the chain and the nylon rode from the chain locker. While I was at it, I rechecked the bowline to make sure all was well.
I had spent a lot of time making sure the V-berth was nice and comfy. This would be the Admiral's bed chamber, and as everyone knows, if the Admiral's not happy, no one is. The chain locker, with its odor of wet rope and pluff mud, could not impose on her queenly comfort. Therefore, the panel needed to seal off this space as thoroughly as possible.
As I said in my earlier posting on the chain locker panel, I had purchased two different deck plates for the holes in this panel.
I applied butyl tape around the flanges of these deck plates.
This would eliminate the flow of air in both directions. I didn't want any air flowing into the V-berth from the chain locker. Likewise, I didn't want any air flowing out. You might recall from an earlier posting that I had constructed an air conditioner box for the companionway of this boat. I wanted to keep as much cool air in the boat as possible.
One of the benefits of having deck plates in the chain locker panel instead of just screens (which the panel originally had) is that it allows you to have ventilation - if you want it, when, for example, the weather is cool and mild and air conditioning is unnecessary.

I used stainless steel machine screws and self-locking nuts for this installation.
Now that this was out of the way, I could focus on the sealing of the panel itself.
Around its perimeter, I installed closed-cell weatherstripping foam.
I did the same thing to the cut-out in the fiberglass bulkhead.
These pieces of weatherstripping foam would provide two separate barriers against the ingress and egress of air.
I then installed the panel with oval-head wood screws on finish washers. These oval-head screws and finish washers matched those that Ericson had originally used throughout the boat.
The panel was nice and snug in its new home, or I should say its old home. It was well-epoxied, well-varnished, well-sealed, and it now provided both visible and physical access to the chain locker simply by my unscrewing of the deck plates. All of these things told me that this was time well spent.
This ends this posting on my installation of the chain locker panel on Oystercatcher, my Ericson 25.

No comments:

Post a Comment