manual windlass?

[gaff cutter]

Last summer I had trouble retrieving a 35 lb anchor and chain from unexpectedly deep water. I'm thinking of installing a small manual windlass but wonder if it is overkill, given the size of my boat- 25 ft on deck but 9000 lb displacement. There is a Simpson-Lawrence Hyspeed double action manual windlass in very good condition on sale on ebay and I am considering bidding on it. What do you think it might be worth?

[outofthenorm]

http://i7.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/92/3c/4870_1_b.JPG

If this is the one, it might be overkill, but it's not a bad little unit. A friend has one just like it on his Alberg 30. It's slow to operate, but it's 20-something years old and never had a problem. Can't say what it's worth - the new ones all seem to be electric.
- Norm

[S.V. Airlie]

I have refused to buy a windless. Not on Uncas and there won't be one on Airlie.
I remember only one time I had problems getting my anchor up.. West River; the day after a serious blow. I pulled and pulled.. and went no where. I cleated the rode, turned on the egine and went forward. Initially to no avail but finally got the anchor to move.
Nope.. when I need a windlass, it's time to give up boats.

[Ian McColgin]

A place for jamie and I to disagree! I believe in the biggest anchor you can possibly fit and very much at least one all chain rode if you can manage a windlass. I also believe it well to have one all-chain rode if you can work out a chain locker. This all because I hate picking up a mooring and much preferr to anchor on my own gear.

I had the SL 555 on Goblin and Granuaile. Superb unit. Grab it. You will need to adjust the gypsey to pure chain or rope-chain sized to fit your chain. Or change the chain. Note that 3/8" chaines, BBB, High Test, or plain all have different link lengths and the gypsey for one won't fit the others.

Even if you don't go with any all-chain rodes, a boat like yours should have chain leaders a boat length long minimum. This means you'll at times be breaking out with chain to the windlass. If you go rope-chain, by the way, splice them together with a backsplice through the last chain link. This will allow the rope to work in the gypsey and feed smoothly to the chain.

[S.V. Airlie]

Ian.. never mentioned chain..I responded to having a windless. so am not sure whether we disagree or not..

[kc8pql]

Seems simple to me. If the anchor and chain are heavy enough to give you trouble retrieving it, you need a windlass. The size of the boat doesn't matter.

[emichaels]

http://i7.ebayimg.com/05/i/000/92/3c/4870_1_b.JPG

If this is the one, it might be overkill, but it's not a bad little unit. A friend has one just like it on his Alberg 30. It's slow to operate, but it's 20-something years old and never had a problem. Can't say what it's worth - the new ones all seem to be electric.
- Norm

That is the exact unit I have been looking to find for our cutter I am building. I just missed one on ebay a couple months back. They are hard to find used ones and I was not able to find one new like that, There are some fancy, somewhat expensive ones, that are manual. The one on ebay a few months back sold for aroun 300 and it looked to be in very good condition.

Eric

[paladin]

thats a good windlass and a good price...grabbbittt..

[Bob Cleek]

Ditto, the S/L windlass pictured is a great machine. I would offer one word of caution, however. I'm not absolutely positive, but IIRC, the body of the windlass is cast aluminum. From the picture, it appears that it has been recently repainted or powder coated. I haven't had my hands on one recently, so I can't be absolutely sure of the material it's made of. (The drum is obviously bronze, as it should be.)

In recently rehabing a (possibly) similar Whale Gusher, I discovered that the aluminum casting doesn't hold up well in the salt environment. It looked fairly good under the powder coating, but turned out to be completely corroded inside. This is a common problem with aluminum castings. It is not unusual to find an aluminum out drive unit which has sat in salt water to be so shot that it will shatter like a china plate when hit with a hammer.

I'd try to check out the material and condition of the body before dropping any real money into it. You might consider the all-bronze unit from ABI:

http://www.sailorsams.com/mall/windlass-450.jpg

[Jay Greer]

The Simpson Lawrence pictured is the same windlass I have on my H28. It is a great aid for raising the hook. It has been in constant use since 1985 and I am, currently, treating it to an overhaul that includes powder coating.
When I am aboard a boat that does not have a windlass, I have been known to fleet a slingle whip down the deck to a sheeting winch and nip it on to the anchor rode to aid in upping the anchor.
JG

[Jay Greer]

The Simpson Lawrence pictured is the same windlass I have on my H28. It is a great aid for raising the hook. It has been in constant use since 1985. I am, currently, treating it to an overhaul that includes powder coating the main body.
When I am aboard a boat that does not have a windlass, I have been known to fleet a slingle whip down the deck to a sheeting winch and nip it on to the anchor rode to aid in upping the anchor.
JG

[gaff cutter]

I think that the windlass I had in mind is somewhat lighter than the S-L 555, and that is attractive for a small boat. I've been using a 35 lb anchor on about 60' of chain, then rope, and had trouble hauling it up in a blow. I then switched to 20' of chain which I can handle, but still am considering the windlass. Here is the ebay address: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=ADME%3AL%3ARTQ%3AUS%3A1&viewitem=&item=170093413923

Thanks much for your comments!

[Iolaire]

Another unit to consider is the Muir. They have (2) models. I have the HM-1200, but the HM-770 may be more like your needs. They look similar to the S/L unit.
I have used mine for 7 years and it has performed perfectly. Most times I am able to manually pull the boat up to the anchor, but the windlass usually does the "breakout" of a 42# Herreshoff ("Yankee"). After that it's 50/50 using hand over hand or the windlass, depending if I have deployed chain or rope as the primary rode.
I would much prefer this over starting the engine. On a nice quiet morning with a light breeze what could be nicer than being able to get the hook up quietly with a manual windlass, set the sails and drift away (no noise save for the traditional sound of rode coming up, no engine smoke, no yelling or arm gyrations from foredeck to the wife in the cockpit who only runs the boat at this time trying to understand , etc etc).
Just my thoughts!

[Chris Gerkin]

I have the unit you are looking at. The unit is a Simpson Lawrence Hyspeed 510. I bought mine on ebay for $300. The ad says it was a little sticky. After disassembly I found a pitted shaft and ruined fiber bushings as well as a broken chain. Total cost to repair about $600. I turned the shaft down, turned bronze bushings as well as a new chain for under $50 and the unit is very smooth. Condition is everything. By the way the gypsy is bronze but the drum is aluminium.

[emichaels]

The pics above are not the same unit that is on ebay. I am waiting for a model number for the one on ebay from the seller. But the ebay model is smaller that the pics in this thread.

[paladin]

Before I bought my 'lectric winch.....I also used the primaries and considered it much easier than pumping a Simpson Lawrence...

[ssor]

I have a length of laid nylon spliced to a grab hook that can be led to one of my two speed sheet winches. I can take a second purchase if need be.

[paladin]

My friend Everett Thomas (I think he posted a few times a couple or three years ago) installed electric two speed primaries with self tailing capabilities....he would drag the anchor line over the stem roller, back the primary self tailer and play with a little electric box.

[rbgarr]

The last time I 'fleeted a slingle whip' my wife almost kicked me out of bed. ;)

[willmarsh3]

I considered getting an anchor winch until I learned a trick for breaking out the anchor:

1) Haul in the rode until it is vertical in the water. I sometimes use the motor to help this.

2) I start kneeling and standing to make the bow bob up and down. At the bottom of the bob I seize the rode around the bitt so it's fixed to the boat. The up stroke of the bob usually breaks the anchor free the first time.

3) I haul the anchor up.

If I'm going to get a winch I'd want a manual or an electric with a manual override because I don't like such a critical thing to depend on having a supply of electricity if it can be helped.
Another drawback of having a winch is the weight up forward contributing to hobby horsing.

[Jay Greer]

Several years ago, while cruising in Desolation Sound on a boat other than my own, I asked the owner if his electric windlass had manual back up. He angrely snorted that he didn't need it because he kept is windlass in top shape. In fact, he boasted that it had just been overhauled just prior to the cruise. Next morning the bloody thing refused to operate and we were forced to take in 200' of 3/8" chain rode by hand! The owner now has a new windlass that has a manual back up over ride!
JG

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Is this the moment to write...

"Worth's chain pawl"?

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Is this the moment to write...

"Worth's chain pawl"?

Que?

[John B]

I suspect its the the device here on the deck of TERN II. Usually they just have a cam that drops down and stops the chain running out.I'd imagine that that one has a similar component that lifts up as it looks like it has a roller on the top.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid61/p4db7f553c6c67f1b1c89c907b102781f/fc30f1a9.jpg

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

John, you don't by any chance have a close up of the stem head?

The roller on deck a little aft of the Samson post looks like it is arranged to give a fair lead to the mast gypsy (wildcat), although it might be an ecentric cam chain compressor, and the chain pawl itself "should" be the fitting at the stemhead.

[John B]

ahh. I'll have a look.

[Emma56]

[q uote=Bob Cleek;1531350]Ditto, the S/L windlass pictured is a great machine. I would offer one word of caution, however. I'm not absolutely positive, but IIRC, the body of the windlass is cast aluminum. From the picture, it appears that it has been recently repainted or powder coated. I haven't had my hands on one recently, so I can't be absolutely sure of the material it's made of. (The drum is obviously bronze, as it should be.)

In recently rehabing a (possibly) similar Whale Gusher, I discovered that the aluminum casting doesn't hold up well in the salt environment. It looked fairly good under the powder coating, but turned out to be completely corroded inside. This is a common problem with aluminum castings. It is not unusual to find an aluminum out drive unit which has sat in salt water to be so shot that it will shatter like a china plate when hit with a hammer.

I'd try to check out the material and condition of the body before dropping any real money into it. You might consider the all-bronze unit from ABI:

http://www.sailorsams.com/mall/windlass-450.jpg[/quote] This one is the Cat's A== Built for Salt