Anchor roller / windlass position

[Pack Mule]

I just got my new anchor roller back from the weld shop today. I'm building a new anchor platform about 12 " wide and around 3-1/2 ' long. Should I keep the roller in the center of the platform and offset the windlass to keep the chain gypsy in line with the roller ? And should the windlass be lowered some to keep the chain at less of an angle ? I was hoping to keep everything on the same platform but to keep the gypsy in line with the roller I'm going to run out of platform width.

 

[BruceK]

I had my windlass off the boat recently. To accommodate a new motor I raised it 30mm(1 and1/4") on a wooden spacer/plinth. Muir (the maker) said raising it would actually help, (caution -they were wrong about other things). Sometimes the chain spills outside the pipe and jams, probably just the twice as fast retrieve.

 

[FF]

OF its robustly mounted perhaps the chain stopper (what holds the boat while anchored with chain) could be bolted on to the roller guide.

The windlass is NEVER (yes I know it has a drum pawl) used to hold the weight of the vessel while anchored.

 

[Pack Mule]

OF its robustly mounted perhaps the chain stopper (what holds the boat while anchored with chain) could be bolted on to the roller guide.

The windlass is NEVER (yes I know it has a drum pawl) used to hold the weight of the vessel while anchored.

I was just down in the basement looking at that . I was planning on a chain stopper . From the looks of the angle on my mock up do you think the windlass should be lowered some? That is about the distance back from the roller guide where I want to mount it.

 

[rwidman]

The windlass should be mounted to a reinforced portion of the boat, The gypsy should line up with the roller. The height probably doesn't matter but lowering the windlass increases the angle at the roller. I wouldn't intentionally do that. Less angle is better but the amount of change by raising or lowering the windlass is probably insignificant.

 

[psneeld]

Raising and lowering the windlass can affect the amount of chain exposed at the wildcat which can be critical to prevent the chain from jumping (number of full links engaged).

The manufacturer can give you the spec for how many degrees of wildcat wrap is necessary for proper operation. Mine is in my manual.

I would worry more about link engagement than roller friction.

 

[koliver]

If you have the room, make your bow platform the same width as your windlass, put your big roller at the Starboard side, properly aligned with the chain gypsy, put another roller at the port side, properly aligned with the drum. You can move the nylon rode that extends your chain, to the drum side for hauling, then when the chain is reached, lift it over to the gypsy. Alignment is more important for hauling the chain portion of your rode than for the rope portion.
I also use the drum for hoisting traps, so having a roller aligned with it is very handy.

 

[Pack Mule]

If you have the room, make your bow platform the same width as your windlass, put your big roller at the Starboard side, properly aligned with the chain gypsy, put another roller at the port side, properly aligned with the drum. You can move the nylon rode that extends your chain, to the drum side for hauling, then when the chain is reached, lift it over to the gypsy. Alignment is more important for hauling the chain portion of your rode than for the rope portion.
I also use the drum for hoisting traps, so having a roller aligned with it is very handy.

So if I just have the one roller for now offset it to the starboard side of platform? I might look kinda funky till I get another roller but it does make sense instead of offsetting the windlass.I should have got my guy to make a dual roller to begin with, he only charged me $160 for this one .I know it's not polished up but neither is my boat.Would the other roller be better to stick out a little further ?

 

[dimer2]

or leave your roller as is and add one each side. Sorry. not a good pic.

 

[Aquabelle]

Roller and chain gypsy should align. If you end up using your rope drum you can always add a roller to the cap rail. Don't lower the windlass...chain will likely jump. If anything, windlasses work best when elevated somewhat, as Muir recommends (per Bruce's post at #2 above)

 

[rochepoint]

So if I just have the one roller for now offset it to the starboard side of platform? I might look kinda funky till I get another roller but it does make sense instead of offsetting the windlass.I should have got my guy to make a dual roller to begin with, he only charged me $160 for this one .I know it's not polished up but neither is my boat.Would the other roller be better to stick out a little further ?

Not the best picture but here is a "kinda funky" set up. My anchor roller is offset to the starboard side in line with the gypsy. Have thought many time of installing a second roller on the port side for use with the rope drum....

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. r. Holy flashback Batman! Now, funky is NOT a word I've heard used recently.

 

[Tony B]

The gypsy and roller should align as much as possible. Lewmar recommends no more than 6 degrees out of alignment. I was too lazy to look up my old math stuff so I got some graph paper and scaled down the distance and the offset and had a small protractor and mine measured 5 degrees out of alignment and it works just fine for me.
If I mounted the windlass directly on the deck. rain water running down the bowsprit would run into the hole. I raised the whole thing up on a piece of 3/4" starboard to create a dam of sorts to slow down the water ingress.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mt. T. Nice install.

 

[Pack Mule]

Greetings,
Mr. r. Holy flashback Batman! Now, funky is NOT a word I've heard used recently.

I noticed I've been using "FUNKY" a lot lately since working on this boat , also a bunch of other choice words while doing this project.You can lay down some pretty FUNKY stuff yourself. Love the video's!

 

[Pack Mule]

Tony B,
I like it . Very nice neat clean job.

 

[Tony B]

Thanks PM and RT

After about the 10th time of in and out of the anchor locker, the locker won. So I had to hire a young man with a small body frame to fit into the anchor locker to do some cutting and tighten up the nuts.
Someone mentioned earlier that the windlass is not supposed to hold the boat to the anchor. I initially had 2 cleats on the bow sprit and removed one of them and put 2 new ones up forward. I left one of the original cleats there to tie off to. I use both rope and chain rode.

 

[Nomad Willy]

As you can see I have an oversized cleat in the center for anchor loads. The outboard cleats are for mooring lines except I make the bitter end of the rode fast to the stbd cleat. The support pad is a 1 1/8" pice of flooring I found somewhere. Marine plywood is not available on POW Is.

Removal and maint will come easy as the pad is bedded in w Dolfhinite. The deck iswell over 2" thick under the pad and should be plenty stout for all anchor loads. Better get a cover for that switch though as I just about jump overboard when I step on it. The little winch is VERY noisy. The whole thing works well except that the anchor line tends to pull over to stbd and ride up the stbd side of the drum.

I almost never carry an anchor on the bow. I put the Claw up there just to see if it would fit. There was 1/4" clearance from the stem. I usually carry two anchors on deck to port and stbd of the rode box. Others aft in the hold.

By the way my oil based (heavy w turpentine) clear finish on the deck plate does lots better than I expected even w the chain clattering over it frequently.

The fishermen in Thorne Bay thought my chrome cleats were a little pretentious but I wonder what their reaction would be if I mounted a polished SS anchor on the bow. I can hear the laughter from here.

 

[FF]

The inboard end of the roller works might be lifted so the chain stopper is in line.

WE almost never anchor with all chain , so the chain stopper simply holds the anchor while powering.

This can be an advantage as 7/16 HT chain is needed to use our 60# anchors.

The few ft does not need to fir the windlass.