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Living and cruising on the Chesapeake Bay full time, I needed a solution of a high-pressure pump for washing things down. This was especially important for the anchor! I opted to go with the Johnson 5.2 GPM pump due to its great reviews and higher-than-competitors flow rate. It also would not break the bank.

I installed the pump in the anchor locker on the port side just underneath the windlass, next to the windlass support bracket. (Bracket is the big metal pole in the picture). An included template made it easy to mark holes and screw in.

Electrical: The wiring was run through the same conduit that supplies the windlass and forward nav lights. I used 32 ft of 12AWG from my breaker panel to a waterproof switch in the anchor locker. (Yes, with proper in-line fuse as well). I used heat shrink connectors on all connections and put the loose wire you see here in split loom.

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Here you see the switch on the port side, just under the anchor locker hatch.

Water connections: I contemplated quite a bit on the best way to do this. Should I tee into the forward head sink drain? Should I add another thru-hull on next haul out? I also wanted this pump to be not just limited to washing down the anchor. So, I purchased a 10 ft 5/8in garden hose and attached it to my input side of the pump with included fittings. The other end gets thrown overboard anytime I want to use the pump. I cut down the hose to 8ft (that’s what worked best for me) and added a brass collar and brass nut on the end to keep the end underwater. That end, seen in this photo, is attached via cord and carabiner to the anchor locker hatch, so it doesn’t fall down and is always there. I added a simple, small stainless steel eye hook the carabiner hooks on to. This hose can also be put in a bucket of fresh water if needed, dropping in the dinghy to bail it out after a rainstorm, or even, a backup to the backup emergency bilge. Now, I wasn’t limited to just raw water.

The output is a simple 1/2 coiled hose I got from my local hardware store. 1/2 gives much more flow and pressure than the standard smaller diameter hose coil. The nozzle came with the pump.

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Here is a picture of the entire set up looking down into the anchor locker. Everything stays coiled up out of the way, and never gets in the way of the anchor or windlass.

The only, minor, complication I had, was that I had to remove the bookshelf in the forward cabin to be able to run the wire through. The bookshelf is attached by 4 black Philips head screws just on the inside of each cubby. The entire shelf pulls straight out allowing you access to the other side of the rear of the anchor locker.

The entire process was easy and has been serving me well for a while!