Anchor Windlass Installation
$750 – ProSeries 1000 (West Marine)
$ 25 ($12.50/ea X 2) – Extra Long Drill Bits (Local)
$800 – 300 ft 5/16 HT Chain w/ X-large links on each end (www.1st-chainsupply.com)
$160 – 60 ft #2awg marine grade wire (eBay)
$ 15 – Nuts/bolts/all-thread (Local)
$ 20 – Wire terminals (Local)
$ 30 – 20 ft 3×12 AWG wire for switch (Local)
$1800 – Grand Total
-$200 – Sold 300 ft of old PC chain
-$650 – Sold old manual Windlass on eBay (seriously)
$950 – Our Grand total
We dropped the hook in 60 feet of water in Tea Harbor, a narrow steep walled (at least underwater) inlet just north of Juneau, AK. Out came 150 feet of 5/16 inch Proof Coil chain. We backed down to set the anchor, and I thought to myself “I should really let out another 50 feet or so to improve the scope, especially in this 20 knot breeze, but if we do we’ll be too close to shore.” But I didn’t, and we spent the next 8 hours fretting about whether the anchor was dragging (I think it was) instead of sleeping. So why didn’t we just pick up the anchor, move over a bit, and drop it again? Simple: the next morning when we started to hand crank the chain with our manual windlass we had to take turns because it takes about 3 cranks to pull in each FOOT of chain!!! 150 feet, You do the math! After zero sleep, an aching back and arms, and a headache the size of Alaska I decided that we were going to get an electric windlass.
So, as usual, I did research. Way too much research to the point where I could spout out the dimensions of almost any windlass in the 35-45 foot boat category, and had no idea what to buy. Here was the dilemma: We already have 300 feet of Proof Coil chain, we have a tight budget (as always), and we only have so much room to work with around the bowsprit (see photo).
As always, to figure the cost of a project: take what you have in your savings account, add that to your checking account, add 10%, blend, and viola! We decided on a goal of $1000 because that’s how what all of our projects seem to cost.
So how many windlasses are there to choose from? About 2 million. The first thing to do is figure out what you want to do with your boat. You could write a book on what kind of rode to choose, but I have narrowed it down for you. Lots of anchoring: chain. Not so much: rope/chain. We plan on anchoring lots, so chain made sense. Good thing we already have chain!
Nigel Calder says (and Nigel Calder is always right, or at least if you have an unlimited budget Nigel Calder is always right) that we need 5/16 HT chain at a minimum four our size boat 38 feet. Let me digress… There are basically 3 kinds of chain: BBB (3B), High Test (HT or G4), and Proof Coil (PC or G3). Of the three, 3B and PC are about the same strength. HT, on the other hand is about TWICE as strong as the others for the same size. Sound complicated? It is. In addition to this every gipsy on every windlass is made to fit ONE size and kind of chain. Oh, by the way, it’s almost impossible to find a windlass that handles Proof Coil, especially in our price range. Apparently Proof Coil has longer links that are made on older equipment so it’s not exact enough to use in an electric windlass (I would be proved wrong about this a couple months later, but this is what I thought). So now we were looking at a windlass AND chain. Ok, double the budget.
Well that actually made picking a windlass easier. Since we’re talking about a windlass/chain combo I was able to pick appropriate chain (according to Nigel) and get a windlass to fit it.
Given our price range we would have to be careful about which windlass to pick. The accepted goal is a windlass that is capable of handling 3 times your entire rode anchor weight. We chose the Lewmar ProSeries 1000. When I read about this windlass the engineering principle made sense which also explained it’s threateningly inexpensive price tag (about $750). The way I understand it is they reduced the number of moving parts significantly by putting in a permanent magnet motor and rearranging the gearing. Fewer parts = less expensive to manufacture + less chance of a failure. As a mechanical engineer, I like that. We’ll see how long it lasts.
Once I had the windless picked out somehow I had to mount the darn thing on the bow sprit of our DE38 Cutter. Mounting it anywhere else would create a crazy fairlead for the rode that I wanted to avoid. The windlass is not symetrical (gypsy on right, motor towards the left), and wants to sit basically straight above the hawspipe. In order to mount it I would have had to drill a 2 inch hole through the middle of the bowsprit (sounded liked a recipe for disaster). So I opted to build a bracket for it so that it could sit off-center to starboard on the bowsprit with the hawspipe just barely to the right. For the bracket, stainless steel would have been the ideal material for strength and weather-ability. I couldn’t find marine grade (304 or 316) stainless anywhere in Juneau large enough to build the bracket. So I went with 3″x3″x1/4″ aluminum. Judging by the number of grinding wheels I went through with the aluminum I’m very glad I didn’t find stainless steel (I’d still be grinding away today).
First I mounted the bracket so that the surface was flush with the top of the bowsprit to make a nice flat mounting surface. Because of the 6″ thickness of the bowsprit I had to use stainless steel all-thread instead of bolts. I simply cut the rod and put nuts and lock washers on both ends.
Once the bracket was mounted I used the template that came with the windlass to position the holes. Using a hole cutter I cut the path for the chain and smoothed it out with a Dremel. I had to go out and buy an extra long drill bit (cost about $12) to drill the 3/8 holes through the bowsprit for the all-thread.
Next I drilled a funky hole for the wiring (again it was designed to be mounted to a deck). I drilled down about an inch, then drilled sideways (through the lower part of the bracket) to make an L shaped hole. That reduced the number of holes going entirely through in our swiss-cheeze bowsprit by 1. I filled it with sealant.
Once the holes were properly positioned which took two tries and a bunch of epoxy to fill the old holes (maybe wood plugs would have been better?). Mounting the windlass was surprisingly easy. The 5/16 all-thread screwed right into the bottom of the windlass, then I just slid it on and bolted it down.
Wiring was expensive too! I used the chart in the windlass manual to choose the wiring. You measure the length of wire (battery to windlass and BACK). I figured that was about 60 feet which put me on the borderline between 4 awg and 2 awg. I went with 2 awg which cost about $160 total for 60 feet with shipping on Ebay.
I mounted the solenoid in the electrical cabinet under the chart table, the up/down switch in the cockpit, and the breaker next to the solenoid. Running the wires was fun since I had to unpack basically the entire starboard side of the boat (we live aboard, and keep everything we own with us). I crimped a few connectors and shrinkwrapped them nicely (I love shrinkwrap) and bolted everything down.
I turned everything on, stepped outside, and pushed the “go” button. Viola! Nothing happened. I checked the wiring, undid a couple of things, wired everything correctly (apparently this is important), pushed the go button, and… IT WORKED!
The new chain had already arrived, so I unloaded the 400 lbs from our 91 Honda Civic Hatchback (which breathed an audible sigh of relief, or was that just the shock relaxing?). We rolled the chain down the ramp in a cart, careful not to kill anyone, and hooked it up to the windlass. I’ve never seen such a beautiful sight! 400lbs of chain rolled into the chain locker in about 5 minutes!
We have yet to test it underway, but it sounds hopeful.
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