What have been people been using for windlasses? I've been leaning strongly toward the Horizon 900GD (gypsy and drum) with a 35# CQR and 200' of 5/16 BBB chain and 150' 9/16 rope. Any thoughts?

Someone from the list (whose name I don't recall) came down to try out a Horizon 600 to see if it fit in the anchor locker. As I recall, it did fit in the locker with plenty of room to spare. How did this work out? Has anyone use a vertical windlass (lewmar or maxwell/freedom in the anchor locker? Were you able to get the correct lead to the windlass?

Thanks,

Mike

S/V Willow
RCYC, Portland, OR, USA

Hi Mike,

Yes I put a 600 on Taku last year. Actually stopped in to West Marine in Portland on my way north from Mexico to purchase it. YEA NO sales tax in Ore.

The Windless fits nicely in the locker and the deck of the locker is very thick. I needed to build it up with about an inch and half of ply. You need to raise it so the angle thru the roller is ok. If I can find the photos I will send them along.

This is the minimum windless I would use. Works great so far.

Charles Stephens

Gibsons BC

Mike,

We installed a Horizon 900GD recently and we love it. We anchor in shallow water here on the Texas coast so we use 20ft of 5/16 BBB chain spliced to 200ft of nylon anchor line. An added bonus of the drum is that we use the spinnaker halyard on the drum to go aloft. It's a lot easier than winching someone up the mast by hand.

John Mangan
3I6 Turning Point
Corpus Christi, TX

Mike,

I installed the Horizon 900 without the drum. I would say that if you are going to be doing a lot of anchoring, I would recommend the 900 over the 600. It
fits easily in the anchor locker. I put a metal backing plate underneath just for good measure. I ordered mine with the 1/4" gypsy and have 150 feet of 1/4" high test chain spliced to 200 feet of 1/2" rope.

My 35 lb. CQR has provided me with excellent holding. The chain drops nicely on the rope with no contact to the hull. I bought two foot switches for up/down control in tha anchor locker. The switch that come with the windlass was not weatherproof. Pictures
available.

Ron Damsen
Woodbine

Frolic uses a Nillson 800 with gypsy and drum that, despite its age (20 yr?), has been extremely reliable. When the aluminum bracket that ties the above-deck winch assembly to the below-deck gear box-motor assembly disintegrated, I replaced it with a machined and anodized replacement. Nillson was extremely helpful and provided drawings for the obsolete part so I could make a new one.

I anchor a lot, as do most Santa Barbara channel island cruisers. My bow gear is comprised of a 44 lb Bruce with 300 ft of 1/4 HT (G4) chain. The 800 is just large enough according to the book (eg, Earl Hinz). Prior to that I had 5/16 BBB and, amazingly, the orignial gypsy works on either so I returned the new replacement I had purchased. Not a skip in 100's of retrievals.

When/If this windlass dies, I'll look for another Nillson but would consider a larger size.

Mike and fellow I36ers,

We have the Horizon 600GD installed in the anchor locker with 300 ft of 1/4 inch HT chain in the forepeak below the locker. I don’t remember the specs exactly, but using the HT chain (rather than BBB) was an important part of the equation. My recollection is that the 1/4 inch HT gave us equal or greater strength for much less weight than the 5/16 BBB would have, and the reduction in weight was necessary to enable the 600 windlass to haul 300 ft of chain plus our 35# anchor.

We were sailing in BC at the time and thought we might need a 300’ rode. We installed the circuit breaker and toggle switch that came with the windlass inside and installed foot switches on the deck just behind the locker cover. We haven’t used it much, but we’re entirely pleased with the result. We have our house batteries in the bilge, so we have a relatively short run to the windlass.

Mike, my partner and I live in Portland and probably are the ones whom you remember taking measurements on your boat a few years back. We now have Amigos docked at McCuddy’s Landing near Scappoose, and we’ll be glad to show her to you if you want to see this installation first hand.

TURNING NOW TO A QUESTION REGARDING SAILS: We have roller furling, a standard 150% genoa, a jib from a Legend 33 and an asymmetric genaker.. We are wondering if we should get a 135 genoa, which we understand is a favorite sail for beating into moderate weather in SF Bay. If that is correct, it should also be very useful here on the Columbia River. We will welcome comments on the desirability of a 135---and any offers or suggestions as to where we might find a good used one suitable for cruising. I’m hoping to sail up to Lewiston ID and back this summer (following this end of the Lewis and Clark route), and I’m thinking that the 150 might have to be furled on the way back more than I’d like.

SECOND QUESTION RE SAILS: We need some minor repairs. Does anyone have recent experience and/or recommendations for sail repair service in Portland or lower Puget Sound?

Milo Ormseth

1982 I36 Amigos

Wow, Thanx for all the input!!

Maybe I'll rethink a small gypsy.

As for the headsail, ours is about a 135 (with a higher foot). It is generally great, but tacking as much as we do on the can get pretty tiring. If I had to do it over, I'd still go with this size sail. I'd highly recommend North Sails (corner of Riverside and 33rd, between Columbia and Marine Drive). They're pretty reasonable for repairs and I've had great work from them. You might hurry though as they start to get backlogged about this time of year. You might also try Waagmeester Sails. I've not used them but lots of people around here swear by them.

Mike

S/V Willow
RCYC
Portland, OR, USA

Mike,

It all depends how often you intend to use it, how long you want it to last, and how heavy your ground tackle is. This in turn depends on what you are trying to do: have lunch in calm water, sleep soundly in a not-so-well-protected anchorage, or leave your boat anchored for a few days.

I am installing a Maxwell VWC800 windlass. It is a true thing of beauty, but if I was starting over at full price, I'd go with the Maxwell Freedom 800 RC. It will do the chain/rope spliced rode automatically, where mine does chain and rope separately. My boat doesn't have the anchor locker, so it's easier in some ways. Maxwell is very high quality stuff from New Zealand -- even their chain-stopper is beautiful -- and they are easy to deal with. I recommend them.

I am planning to use 1/4" HT chain. It is stronger than 5/16" BBB and a lot lighter. With a plywood dam and liner, I figure I can get 300' of it in there, along with some nylon at the end for emergencies.

I used 1/0 AWG welding wire, and put the reversing solenoid in the chain locker. The circuit breaker/shutoff fits nicely under the galley sink, and I wired a pilot light in the cockpit to show if it is left on. The terminations were first crimped, then soldered. The exposed wire was coated with liquid electrical tape and this was then covered by friction tape, and finally heat-shrink tubing.

I have footswitches forward, and a handheld remote control that can be plugged into a socket in the cockpit -- up inside that space under the winches.

The main problem I foresee is the roller. The off-the-shelf ones look pretty wimpy -- almost as bad as the one I have. All the nice beefy ones I have seen looked like they were custom made...

Does anyone have any suggestions on anchor rollers?

Michael
Laughing Matter

With all the interest in the purchase of a Lewmar windlass, perhaps potential buyers might want to bring up "Marine Electronics Unlimited" on the internet. I recently bought a 900G for $644 and added for shipping only - which is a very good deal I thought compared to $930 or so plus taxes elsewhere. It comes with a rocker switch, breaker and up/down relay solonoid. A windlass is not a 'securing device', so don't forget to add a chain stopper to your list if you do not end in rope to cleat off.

I decided against the drum (900GD) because of it's wider size and I would not likely make good use of it, as the gypsy does grasp rope as well. Using a drum to hoist you up a mast can pop breakers, burn out a motor and is not covered use by the manufacturer.

The Lewmar 600 series has less power and handles the 1/4" chain and 1/2" line. The 900 series handles 5/16" chain and 9/16" line, so if you are using 1/4" HT chain, then you need to have the 900 gypsy sized to that.

Smokey

Freeport 36 Evanescense

To Smokey and others installing anchoring systems.

About 10 years ago I "designed" such a system on my 36,000 lb boat. One important item is to be sure all parts of your system have nearly equal strength. Surprisingly, in those days the galvanized shackle used to connect the high test chain to the anchor had a fraction of the breaking strength of the rest of the $5,000 system! So put on a larger galvanized shackle right?

But such a shackle of equal strength has too large a pin to fit. So the $5k system was reduced to a $1.5k system by the use of a $1.98 item. I found that a S.S. shackle for $20, did the job.

For a year or more I would check other boats with HT chain. Not one in 20 had noticed the flaw; in part because all these items are bought at different times and places without regard to weakest link analysis.

In a world of overkill and only occasional anchoring these considerations are less important.But why drive your V8 car with 4 sparkplugs.

Lou Zevanov