Windless help for a 22’ Cruiser

I won’t comment on what brand to get, but I would definitely recommend getting one that has the free fall down feature. Really nice for anchoring in the river.
 
Thanks Clay and Gary,

Clay,

You live pretty close to my (Battle Ground)

Any chance I could meet you and check out your windlass? I know you and I both fish the Columbia River.

Gary,

I was looking at the Fisherman 700
 
Definitely go with a horizontal windlass as the area that stores your anchor rode is not very deep. A lewmar 700 is what you will find on most C-Dory 22s and 25s. The pro fish is nice but the basic one works well also.
 
I believe I have the fisherman 700 also. Send me a PM with your phone number and I’ll text you some pictures of it when I get home. And you’re welcome to come take a look too.
 
I wouldn't recommend the fisherman model. The difference between it and the regular model, is it allows a free fall. Ie, the regular model, you have to power it out or in. The fisherman model allows you to tap the down switch, and it free falls. It does this with a special clutch mechinism that involves a small button and ratchet like catch. It's very noisy bringing the rode back in as the button ratchets past the cache. Also, I have found that in normal use, it tightens the clutch up so tight, that you can not break if free with a large wrench, but have to use the windless motor itself to loosen the clutch. The few extra small parts that work the free fall and then re-tighten the clutch to bring the rode back in can wear out. So unless you see a use for freefalling the anchor rode out, I'd just stay with the regular model. I do have the fisherman model, and keep the "plunger" or "button" in for normal use of powering the rode out. It's a real pain when I want to loosen the clutch when working on the chain and rode. Colby
 
Hi. Colby,

That is great advice and very much appreciated.

I hope clay has the 700 non fisherman model. I want to Hogline once in a while for Spring and fall runs.

I also plan on cruising up the inside passage.

The sign in I saw in Ketchikan, AK saying “Salmon Capital of the World” made me take a knee at the base of the sign.

I will in the future head up north and have a great adventure in the C-Handler.
 
Ok, I have the powerwinch sportfishing 450. I wouldn’t recommend it, although I will give the company kudos for customer service. Colby has valid points about the free fall models but I would still prefer that for use in the river. The reason I wouldn’t recommend this model is because I have had to repair this twice in the 5 years I’ve owned it. I don’t know how old it is, but it seems like it’s not the most robust piece of equipment. But there was a nice lady in customer service that helped me rebuild this over the phone while we were in Florida. It was probably a 45 minute phone call and it worked good after that for about 3 years then failed again for almost the same reason. Basically, some threads are tapped in an aluminum plate, and they strip out over time. It holds the one way bearing that holds the anchor when it is up. The last time I repaired it I used some helicoil thread repair kits and I am hopefull it will last. Despite this I would still want a free fall unit for the Columbia in order to position the boat more easily where you want it. I would try the Lewmar model if I had to replace. I also would expect to have to do maintenance on it every so often. They say to always tie off the anchor line to the bow cleat to save stress on the one way bearing, but I only do that when anchoring overnight. It’s just much easier to push the up and down button, and that’s how I like to use it and realize that it may wear out prematurely. When I rebuild the Merlin I am thinking about a drum windlass but don’t know of any that free fall so I am still considering. Plenty of time to think about that though.
 
I have owned both the Lewmar Profish 700 and the manual 700. The advantage of the Profish is that you can drop the anchor quickly and hit the area you want to fish quickly. Where as the standard Lewman is let down and is considerably slower and you probably won't hit the spot you're aiming for because it lets the chain down slowly. If you're fishing halibut or ling cod in the straights where there is a good current the Profish is the better choice. Same goes for the Columbia as you are in considerable current and you want to be able to get down quickly. I've never experienced any problem with the Profish being too tight as to not be able to release the line with the wrench provided.
As for regular anchoring in the shallows not in current I like the manual version better as a bunch of chain won't pile up on the bottom because it was free falling too fast. In the end, either of the Lewmar models are excellent choices. Good luck.
 
I can not speak about Maxwell windlasses as I have never owned one. But doing a quick search on the internet I find them to be quite expensive. Another thing that caught my eye is that the first thing that pops up is a web page devoted to troubleshooting problems with Maxwell windlasses.... red flag for me.
I did check Hodges marine supply and they have both the Lewmar Pro series 700 and the Pro fish 700 series windlasses for the best prices around with free shipping.
Here is a link so you can check them out.

https://www.hodgesmarine.com/lew6656211 ... ocker.html
 
Thanks to everyone for all your advice.

I do have a new question. I am looking at the Maxwell HRC7FF. It is a horizontal with free fall.

Is the horizontal as good as a vertical?
 
The Maxwell. is a respected brand. I have owned two 3500's which were vertical axis, but in large boats with lots of free fall room.

The CDory does not have a lot of fall room, so the Horizontal windlass axis is what I prefer.
 
Thanks Dr. Bob,

I sure hoped you would have had some experience with Maxwell you could share.

I cannot believe their customer service. (World Class) to say the least.

Thanks again to everyone who piped in on this conversation 👍 I appreciate everyone’s insut.
 
I had excellent service with the Maxwell 3500--One was on my Cal 46, which we cruised 6 months out of the year for 5 years and traveled close to 30,000 miles, with most nights at anchor. Usual service with lubrication and keeping power leads clean is all that were necessary. No red flag with repair information--These are often used on heavy boats and heavy duty work. On the Cal 46 we used 200 feet of 5/16 G4 HT chain, and 400 feet of 5/8" rode. I also had a Maxwell on the 41' Symbol MY, with 300 feet of 3/8" BBB chain.
 
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