Mark’s text read: this is what delaminated plywood looks like.
Reminder: the windlass died while we were struggling with air in fuel lines; it pulls the anchor up from the seabed where the anchor should be keeping your boat in place.
Like any good home remodeling project, fixing the windlass lead to more projects. The anchor locker is the spot at the bow of the boat (the forward, pointy part) where the anchor chain/rode feeds back from the water and drops into it for storage. This keeps the deck clear for working the sails and fun things, like watching dolphins chasing the boat.
Because the windlass’ job is pulling up (and in the future releasing) the anchor with the magic of electricity, it sits on the deck by the anchor locker. Sometime in her past, Mach 5’s anchor locker had a divider installed, then had 2 separate anchors and chains come off her bow (that pointy part) for anchoring use. Hence, when we cut one anchor and hero Captain Wade retrieved it for us, we still had an anchor ready to go. ConviemConvenient in some ways, problematic in more. Part of the problems Mark experienced with retrieving the anchor after the windlass died was due to the chains/rodes/unused anchor becoming spaghetti.
This before pic of the anchor locker shows the divider and some random things stored in there along with the anchor and chain (apologies for out-of-focus ). Another long story short, the divider makes accessing the windlass and other important bits basically impossible. I guess a set of toddler-sized hands with tiny tool could reach.
So the divider needed to come out. Yet, it also provided a service–separation of storage items. Mark consulted the experts at the yard. The decision was made to remove the bulk of it, and replace with slats that create a removable yet strong divider.
Removing part of the divider found that it had delaminated due to the ingress of water (did you watch the video from underway?) and the wetness of the stored chain/rode. Note: the anchor hangs of the pulpit (that fun extra bit that extends off the bow aka pointy part). See pic below.
The reason there is an asterisk in the title is that the after doesn’t exist yet. The delamination was found yesterday and the final decision on how to move forward was today.
Now, we can’t just stick some plastic in there. It needs to be able to withstand pressure from galvanized steel chain, conditions, and the weight of Mach 5, who comes in at just over 25,000lbs. There is a plan at the cost of $3k and “a few days.”
The windlass repair is still WIP. It doesn’t want to come off the deck. Bolts are out. Parts are off. Unit is hanging on! The company that makes it is long gone and was bought by Lewmar (major brand in marine hardware). A man in the UK worked at the original company and acquired all the parts when they closed/merged. We can buy a new replacement motor and gearbox…from the UK…at high shipping. This is actually a preferred way to go because a new one off the shelf at a marine store here would mostly likely require new holes in the deck. It’s not like moving a picture nail over an inch where you can just leave the first hole. The holes have to be closed, epoxied, maybe glasse d(fiberglass), I’m not sure. Then new holes made.
You don’t want more holes in your boat. Whenever possible reuse holes.
More on this in “a few days…”
Edited on June 22: we don't have a bowsprit. We have a pulpit (at the bow).
Who is that guy in the water by Mach 5?
That’s a diver that was cleaning the hull.