Jet it off with a homemade washdown wand
Issue 115: July/Aug 2017
Dirty rode in an anchor locker can make a mess and get to smelling pretty foul. A clean rode is especially desirable when an anchor locker is open to a boat’s bilge or cabin. In pursuit of clean rode, I long used a hose attached to a washdown pump in my attempts to rinse off the mud, but I couldn’t get the nozzle very close to the muddy rode even when reaching out over the pulpit. The process was slow and the result was often mediocre.
I was recently on an online boating site where someone recommended a wand-like nozzle extension that he’d bought and attached to his boat’s wash-down hose. The individual reported that, when standing at the pulpit with the wand, he could direct the water stream right at the rode and anchor and more effectively wash the mud and muck away.
This was certainly something to consider, and the recommended device was not expensive, about $20. However, after rummaging through the odds and ends of my “pack rat pile,” I was able to assemble a similar device using mostly items I already had on hand. Alternatively, I could have constructed the same thing for $5 to $8 using parts from a hardware store.
I started with a 4-foot length of 1/2-inch PVC pipe. (This can be whatever length is needed to get the spray head inches from the muddy rode and anchor.) Using PVC cement, I attached a standard 3/4-inch PVC female hose fitting to one end, for the hose, and the male version to the other end, for a twist-type nozzle. Adding a PVC on/off valve is a nice-to-have, but not totally necessary, feature.
Our washdown hose is connected to a 12-volt Jabsco PAR-MAX 4 diaphragm pump that draws from a tee off the raw-water intake between the strainer and the marine head. Water is delivered to a hose fitting on the deck near the windlass. While kneeling to operate our manual Sea Tiger windlass, I’m able to use my new washdown nozzle extension, aiming the spray at the chain or anchor while it’s still a foot or so below the bow roller. In the past, using a regular hose and nozzle, I ended up washing mud off the chain as it came up over the bow roller, getting a lot of mud on deck. No more.
Jim Shell and his wife, Barbara, sail their Pearson 365 ketch Phantom off the Texas coast.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
