A question about anchor winches
- Thread starter Professional Hobbyist
- Start date
A problem that is more frequent than you might think on planing power boats is the anchor releasing while underway. The anchor goes under the boat and damages your engine. Unfortunately I have first hand experience with just that. I have talked to other people who have had a similar event. Since my experience , I have always secured the anchor in some reliable fashion. It isn't a big problem to take a second to remove the pin or what ever method you use before anchoring. You don't want to retrieve your anchor with a windlass and have it jammed tight. You want to take the high tension off the windlass and use another means to keep the anchor secured.
Jim D.
Jim D.
In general we leave the anchor secured in some fashion when running the boat as well as when trailering. I have never run over an anchor or accidently dropped it--but have heard of it happening. I agree that it is more likely to happen in a power boat. The CD 25 we own came with a chain stopper--and no windlass. I removed that--and we just use a line.
When we were long distance cruising we had a bail over the anchor, just to be sure it didn't jump the roller, if we stuffed the bow. On a passage we might either remove the anchors, and stow them aft, or in the bilge or lash them to the anchor roller/pulpit. Frankly, I don't trust windlass clutches all that much! Actually mega yachts do have remotely activated chain stoppers, so this alread exists.
Despite having sailed over 200,000 miles and gone over 25,000 miles in power boats, we have never come on a circumstance where we had to immediately launch an anchor. That doesn't mean that we didn't have emergencies--but that anchoring within seconds was not the solution or prevention. You can always go thru the foreward hatch if you have to pull a pin in seconds--and if you do that you can manually anchor if necessary. Remember the windlass is not designed to holld the load of the boat at anchor, nor to break the anchor out of the sea bed.
When we were long distance cruising we had a bail over the anchor, just to be sure it didn't jump the roller, if we stuffed the bow. On a passage we might either remove the anchors, and stow them aft, or in the bilge or lash them to the anchor roller/pulpit. Frankly, I don't trust windlass clutches all that much! Actually mega yachts do have remotely activated chain stoppers, so this alread exists.
Despite having sailed over 200,000 miles and gone over 25,000 miles in power boats, we have never come on a circumstance where we had to immediately launch an anchor. That doesn't mean that we didn't have emergencies--but that anchoring within seconds was not the solution or prevention. You can always go thru the foreward hatch if you have to pull a pin in seconds--and if you do that you can manually anchor if necessary. Remember the windlass is not designed to holld the load of the boat at anchor, nor to break the anchor out of the sea bed.
Ryder and Dr Bob,
Thanks for the explination re the unsecured anchor. I like the idea of a pin released from the helm, and I also like the idea of not suffering damage from a wild and free anchor. One of the really nice things about this site, is that you don't have to experience all of the "not nice things" yourself, when others are willing to share. The best part is that we each get to learn from this diverse and indepth knowledge bank here. Thank you for your participation here.
Harvey
SleepyC
Thanks for the explination re the unsecured anchor. I like the idea of a pin released from the helm, and I also like the idea of not suffering damage from a wild and free anchor. One of the really nice things about this site, is that you don't have to experience all of the "not nice things" yourself, when others are willing to share. The best part is that we each get to learn from this diverse and indepth knowledge bank here. Thank you for your participation here.
Harvey
SleepyC
This recommendation for an anchor rode lock is certainly valid in most all cases.
However, my set up is bar tight with the Quick 500 Aires vertical windlass, Lewmar pivoting bow roller (with bail), and Fortress FX-16 anchor (31 inch shank), and 1/4" GS-40 High-Test chain.
It's so tight that I can swing my 225lbs around on it w/o any thought that it could ever slip under any forseeable circumstances.
The thought of having to go forward to release a chain-stop, hook, or other device is disconcerting in that one of the primary reasons for having a windlass in a boat this size is to stay off the bow in rough and dangerous weather.
Operating the lock, if required, through the forward hatch, or better yet, internally within the anchor locker from the v-berth, is a great solution.
Let's see what we can come up with!
Joe.
However, my set up is bar tight with the Quick 500 Aires vertical windlass, Lewmar pivoting bow roller (with bail), and Fortress FX-16 anchor (31 inch shank), and 1/4" GS-40 High-Test chain.
It's so tight that I can swing my 225lbs around on it w/o any thought that it could ever slip under any forseeable circumstances.
The thought of having to go forward to release a chain-stop, hook, or other device is disconcerting in that one of the primary reasons for having a windlass in a boat this size is to stay off the bow in rough and dangerous weather.
Operating the lock, if required, through the forward hatch, or better yet, internally within the anchor locker from the v-berth, is a great solution.
Let's see what we can come up with!
Joe.