Anchor chains galvanized

After six years of heavy but not full-time use, our 3/8 BBB anchor chain had started to show the early signs of needing some attention. Rust had started to form on all links, and though it was only light, it is a rapid deterioration from that point to bad places. Given our approaching trip around Vancouver Island, I am making certain that everything is in the best shape possible and this motivated me to look into getting our chain re-galvanized.

Here around Seattle there are several places that will galvanize chain, and I suppose they each have happy customers associated with them. I decided to use Emerald Galvanizing in Ballard, and was happy with the service and price. They charge $.80 a pound with a $100 minimum. Evidently they are unusual in that they are able to run your chain through a centrifuge to break up any stuck links. I dropped off my main chain and secondary chain on a Tuesday and picked it up early the next week.

Transmission oil change solution found-Updated

We all recognize that having an oil drain hose installed on your diesel is one of the seven wonders of the sailing world. To change your oil as simply as hooking up your vacuum pump to the hose connected to the oil pan is a thing of immense elegance and time savings. Aeolus has this arrangement, and I am repeatedly grateful for it. Our previous boat, an Ericson, did not have this, and so I had to insert the little hose down the dipstick hole and hope for the best with reaching the bottom.

MG 360 with dipstick hole as intended oil drain access

It is not merely the time savings and ease of operation that these oil drain hoses afford that makes them so valuable, but the mechanic in me is well aware of the benefits of sucking the dirty oil from the bottom of the pan, thereby sucking out the metal shavings that are a part of engine wear and tear and that further contribute towards engine problems.

So what about our marine transmissions! I changed the oil in my old Hurth tranny at least once a year, and it involved sticking a small diameter hose down the fill hole and hoping for the best that I was reaching the bottom and getting all the old oil and shavings out. So with my new transmission, a Twin Disc MG 360, I thought about finding a way to install an oil drain hose just like with the diesel.

Turns out, not so easy.