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Its not an ideal setup as the chain pipe is near the bow and it doesn't self stow.   The chain pipe below decks is 2" plastic waste pipe and I have the top of the chain pipe attached to the deck fitting via a short length of wire reinforced flexible hose so a crewmember can pull the pipe aft to distribute the chain.   It also needs a crew member handy in the forepeak to clear any jams when paying out as it could do with being either a significantly larger diameter or a little smaller with a metal bottom fitting with a smoothly rounded entry to stop the chain jamming.   The bunk has to be cleared and the top of the locker  has to be opened when paying out so the pipe is free to swing as if the chain is well stowed and it doesn't try to drag it forward it wont jam.

I think it was the original owner who got rid of the central chain pipe that was a straight drop into the deep aft center locker in the V berth so must have self-stowed nicely and run freely. I suspect domestic harmony was not enhanced by a sizable pipe blocking easy access forward and dividing couples in the V berth. Unfortunately I cant reinstate it without a mutiny as the cook grabbed that locker for our heavier provisions!

Although the deck fitting is the usual upsidown truncated J pipe with a flap, it helps to lash a heavy plastic bag over it in heavy weather to reduce the amount of moisture that gets below.

The chain and warp are marked every 5 meters so scope of 5 x depth can easily be allowed.   The anchor lives in deck chocks and is lashed in place.  I also have fitted a chain pawl for easier recovery, NOT on the stem head but aft of the forestay, slightly offset so the chain clears the fitting.   

Breaking out a well dug in anchor is likely to need a line back to a primary winch with a snatch block to the toe rail near the jib track if you don't have a windlass.  I don't like using a mast winch on a deck stepped mast for horizontal loads.  Could be embarrassing if a big wash came past right at maximum load and the mast jumped the step or the heel tenon failed.

No. UK East coast.  Thames estuary area. It can be 5 miles between buoys outside the main channels so you cant just  buoy hop.

All the South coast drying banks are under a mile offshore.  There are some outlying shoals and rocks but they are usually well marked.

What the South coast has is far far more nasty overfalls.  There are many headlands that you don't want to be within three miles of in heavy weather.

I wouldn't worry too much about the hole. Done right with a solid GRP fairing block, the area will be considerably stronger than the hull around it and with several inches of the thread on the transducer body bedded in permanent underwater sealent, you could take the fixing nut off and pound on it with a sledgehammer without it moving.  That's why I said to put a bond-breaking string down the thread or you wont get it out again without a core drill!

Mine is about 2' forward of the forward main cabin bulkhead on the port side as low down as I could get it in the locker.  It is protected by the start of the keel and the turn of the bilge so I don't have to worry when hauling out as the sling cannot bear on it.

My home sailing waters tend to be a bit skinny. There are some drying banks as much as 12 miles out and you generally want to stay out of the deep water channels whenever possible due to very heavy shipping. Also the banks move noticably.  If you frequently sail shorthanded, and don't have a depth sounder, you'd better be handy with a lead line or comfortable dodging anything up to supertankers and Panamax container ships.

Firdell Radar Reflectors Ltd were still in business as of the start of this financial year and a number of suppliers appear to still stock the Blipper 210-7.  I suggest you contact Firdell.

You can always make a plug and laminate one up yourself.  The advantage of doing it over a plug rather than in a mould is a smooth inside surface + its easier to build a plug.  Don't forget enough taper to get the plug out!

Built them myself out of 3/8" marine ply with 1/2" bases.  Inside dimensions 1" bigger than the battery, all joints filleted on the inside, screwed and glued and glass taped with 2" tape on the outside.

If your batteries do flood, and you are in salt water, you will get large quantities of toxic chlorine gas.   Not Good.

My batteries are in custom built epoxy ply battery boxes reinforced with glass taped corners that lock down on mounting rails in the cockpit locker.  Each battery has a retaining strap.

Well, our boat has external halyards and the main is 1:1 with no winch. I hoist to the mark then pull the boom down with a 3:1 purchase tackle at the gooseneck and also with the kicker.

I usually keep the spinny pole on its D ring on the mast track with the other end locked onto a shackle on the deck plate the forestay is on as it keeps jibsheets from catching on the forehatch and also provide an extremely valuable handhold if one has to go up the bow, but this also means it is the right height for me to straddle and brace against while basically hugging the front of the mast to hoist, drop or reef.  If it's too rough to stand hugging the mast, I'll sit or lie at the mast foot.

The reefing lines are on jammers under the boom near the gooseneck so I can tension the foot on the horns so it doesn't drop off.  That should work for you as well. If the reefing lines are led aft and you use horns, it immediately requires two coordinated crew to reef - not good.

If you put coloured whippings on your main halyard to mark each reef with a few inches slack, you can simply slack off the main, take up the topping lift, drop to the mark, go forward, and put the reef in without having to touch the halyard again till your are back in the cockpit to tension it at the end.

Remember that to do any good, a bilge blower must be explosion proof and ALL ITS CONNECTIONS,  SWITCHES AND FUSES must be explosion proof all the way back to the battery.

Diesel that is not vaporised or finely atomised does NOT explode, but if you have a gas installation for cooking, or store outboard fuel in a cockpit locker, you may want a bilge blower anyway.   However even a small diesel engine like a 1GM10 moves a lot more air when running than a 4" blower can.

In the end it all comes down to national and local regulations and whatever your insurance company demands, but I wouldn't go out of my way to fit one . . . .

You certainly don't want to be in shallow water with a mean wave height greater than half your beam . . .