Need Thoughts, recommendations, on this Windlass for my F 25

Torcan · Post by **Torcan** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 7:38 pm

Thanks for all the comments and help guys, much appreciated.
Good point prowlerfish, think I will put in a back-up switch so that it can't be turned on while underway. Maybe some light indicator to indicate when it is in the down position. I am sure one of my electrical buddies will be able to figure out something for me.

on another note: Wish me luck, I am taking a Marine Radio Course with DCS next Sunday, for my licence.

And starting a 12 week course on Boating Tuesday nights for Power Squadron

Big D · Post by **Big D** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 7:44 pm

All the safety issues considered, power down is fine IMO. At 132 feet per minute in 50 feet of water, even a 7:1 ratio is only a 3 minute wait!

captainmaniac · Post by **captainmaniac** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 7:52 pm

Big D wrote:All the safety issues considered, power down is fine IMO. At 132 feet per minute in 50 feet of water, even a 7:1 ratio is only a 3 minute wait!

Holding a single screw boat in the right position (or keeping it moving in the right direction) for that length of time could take a bit of practice... hopefully there is a lot of room to maneuver.

rbcool · Post by **rbcool** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:37 pm

Your a good man Torcan

I love to see people taking the time and effort to take coarses and better their boating skills.
A question i neglected to ask earlier...... how much would you plan on using your windlass? I use the HELL OUTTA mine from April to October bottom fishing 3-4 days a week, quite often moving the boat 4-5 times a day. AFD is a must with me, but if you're just dropping the hook every now and then you should be fine

Ron

Torcan · Post by **Torcan** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 8:51 pm

rbcool wrote: just dropping the hook every now and then you should be fine

Ron

Yup, will be just dropping it occasionally, not retired yet, still gotta work for a living

I won't be using it as much as you do, will be trolling Lake Ontario, short trips around as well. But will get out as much as I can.

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Mon Jan 17, 2011 10:49 pm

alexander38 wrote:If it not automatic free fall your still heading to the bow to drop it when your alone kind defeats the need of it doesn't it ? Seems your need will not be met eeh ?

Not quite correct... if the anchor is balanced correctly in the chock then it should lower with the down button without one's presence.... mine does. (72' per min rate)
Though I would not have an anchor system that does not have a locking device that requires me to at least release that before deploying. So even if it were freefall I would have to go and remove the lock sometime prior to anchoring.

alexander38 · Post by **alexander38** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 1:05 am

Well Ready123 then your still going to the bow then. I use my own boating knowledge from what I've tried and liked and didn't. And I've found for myself a free fall works best , for getting a lot of rode out fast. So right or wrong its an opinion

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:11 am

alexander38 wrote:Well Ready123 then your still going to the bow then.

Exactly, my point was even if it were a freefall I would have a chain lock requiring a trip to the bow at some point.
Are you saying you do not have a lock on your freefall?

Torcan · Post by **Torcan** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:29 am

Good points everyone, I hadn't thought of locking it. Will definitely be doing that. To be honest, I was more concerned with the raising, safety and saving some strain on the back. Pulling up 100 feet of rope, chain and anchor can get to be alot.

I received another e-mail from the manufacturer telling me that they have a "remote" that will freefall drop it for 40 seconds.
here is the link they sent me
http://www.anchorlift.com/control_units.html

My whole reason for this thread was to get some input into this particular windlass, procedures, pros and cons which you all have so graciously helped me make my mind up on.
I went ahead and purchased it, wish me luck.

Thanks again for all the input

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 7:15 am

Torcan,
Will you have a cleat alongside the rode ahead of the windlass to tie off to when anchored? You do not want to rely on the windlass to hold your rode in a strong wind... it also puts an undesirable load on the windlass.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 12:12 pm

Hi Torcan,

I think you'll be happy with your purchase. $450 is a good price. Power down is not a bad thing however it doesn't provide the pin point accuracy for anchor positioning that free fall does. (especially in the wind) I have a similar sized boat with a similar windlass (power down) and have been very happy with it's performance over the past 10 years. It's a simple set up and easy to operate. The windlass is a Horizon 400 and has 200ft of rope with 15ft of chain. The anchor roller is a pivoting style so that the anchor easily self deploys when I hit the down switch. The switch is mounted at the helm and is a toggle with momentary up and down positions. I also have a cable tether on the anchor as a safety so that the anchor cant be deployed by mistake. As far as the anchor itself is concerned, you need to choose which style will work best for the environment that you will be anchoring in. Below is a picture of my set up.

As you can see I left the original anchor and haws tube in place. It's a good back up and I occasionally use it as a stern anchor.

So here's how we use it. As we arrive at our favorite swimming hole, off plane and at idle speed, my wife heads forward and releases the safety cable. I then idle into the wind well forward of the spot that I want the boat to sit over and shift the boat into reverse. Once the forward motion is almost stopped, I hit the power down switch and deploy the anchor. I then keep releasing rope as the boat moves backwards. (not to fast) I then neutral the boat then stop releasing rope which takes up the slack and sets the anchor. I then go up on the bow and cleat off the rope. This takes the load off of the windlass while at anchor.

When it's time top leave, I un-cleat the rope, then go back to the cockpit where I bump the shifter in and out of forward to get the boat moving towards the anchor. (this prevents a sudden heavy load on the windlass) Then with the boat moving forward I hit he toggle and use the windlass to pull the boat towards the anchor, and pull it up. Once it's back in place my wife re-attaches the safety cable and were on our way.

Also, you might notice that we installed a washdown on the bow next to the anchor. Often the anchor comes back up with mud and weeds on it and the washdown makes it easy to hose it off.

Hope this helps.

Codger · Post by **Codger** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 6:43 pm

Paul wrote:Hi Torcan,

I think you'll be happy with your purchase. $450 is a good price. Power down is not a bad thing however it doesn't provide the pin point accuracy for anchor positioning that free fall does. (especially in the wind) I have a similar sized boat with a similar windlass (power down) and have been very happy with it's performance over the past 10 years. It's a simple set up and easy to operate. The windlass is a Horizon 400 and has 200ft of rope with 15ft of chain. The anchor roller is a pivoting style so that the anchor easily self deploys when I hit the down switch. The switch is mounted at the helm and is a toggle with momentary up and down positions. I also have a cable tether on the anchor as a safety so that the anchor cant be deployed by mistake. As far as the anchor itself is concerned, you need to choose which style will work best for the environment that you will be anchoring in. Below is a picture of my set up.

As you can see I left the original anchor and haws tube in place. It's a good back up and I occasionally use it as a stern anchor.

So here's how we use it. As we arrive at our favorite swimming hole, off plane and at idle speed, my wife heads forward and releases the safety cable. I then idle into the wind well forward of the spot that I want the boat to sit over and shift the boat into reverse. Once the forward motion is almost stopped, I hit the power down switch and deploy the anchor. I then keep releasing rope as the boat moves backwards. (not to fast) I then neutral the boat then stop releasing rope which takes up the slack and sets the anchor. I then go up on the bow and cleat off the rope. This takes the load off of the windlass while at anchor.

When it's time top leave, I un-cleat the rope, then go back to the cockpit where I bump the shifter in and out of forward to get the boat moving towards the anchor. (this prevents a sudden heavy load on the windlass) Then with the boat moving forward I hit he toggle and use the windlass to pull the boat towards the anchor, and pull it up. Once it's back in place my wife re-attaches the safety cable and were on our way.

Also, you might notice that we installed a washdown on the bow next to the anchor. Often the anchor comes back up with mud and weeds on it and the washdown makes it easy to hose it off.

Hope this helps.

Paul,

What is the brand and model bow roller you have? I'm looking for the same thing.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 8:53 pm

Codger,

It's a Lewmar pivoting anchor roller. I bought it 10 years ago and don't have the part number any more however I know that Lewmar and Sea Dog still make this part.

Torcan · Post by **Torcan** » Tue Jan 18, 2011 10:25 pm

Wow Paul!!

Thanks so much for the pics, that is exactly what I am looking for in my set-up.
I now have a visual on how it should look. Great info, Thank you for taking the time to post it up.

I will go for the lock, and have already been looking into the tilt on the bow roller.

Thanks again!

James

BTW, I don't have a problem going out to the bow, I just feel it is a lot safer with a windlass for raising the anchor, pulling rope, chain and anchor is the main reason. Not so much dropping it.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » Thu Jan 20, 2011 12:10 pm

Glad to be of help James,

There's one more thing that I'd like to mention about this installation. After the first season of use, I noticed a small dip in the bow in the area where I re-located the cleat to. (the windlass is installed where the cleat used to be) I discovered that this dip occurred when the anchor was nested tight in the bow roller and the chain between the anchor and windlass was tight. This tension caused the bow in this area to deflect enough to cause water to pool there when it rained.

(this problem can be worse if there is core rot in this area) To eliminate this problem, I either had to leave the anchor loose or reinforce the bow. Since I hate thing that rattle

, I chose to stiffen it up. I used a piece of 2"x 2"x 1/8" carbon steel angle, only because I had some, and install it under the bow. It's bolted to the bow roller at one end and one of the studs from the windlass at the other end. The cleat is bolted to it in the middle. Since the angle iron does not sit flat against the underside of the bow, I added hardwood shims to fill the gaps at the bolting points.

This solved the problem for me however if I had to do it again I would probably choose a piece of aluminum C channel instead of angle iron.

Hope this helps,