need windlass / anchor advice

[bill j]

I need some advice on anchoring and using the windlass on my 26 ft Cutwater. It came from the factory with a plow anchor, 50 ft chain, and 250 ft rope and anchor deployment and retrieval has become a major stress! My wife says my personality changes dramatically whenever I fool with the anchor. Basically the windlass will not deploy or retreive the anchor without multiple episodes that require me to constantly stop and restart, put my hands and finger dangerously close to the windlass teeth, and constantly smoothing out the pile of chain and rope deposited below in the storage bin. The storage bin seems too small for this amount of chain and rope. I mostly anchor in sand and 15-20 ft of water but can easily experience 25-40 mph winds during storms from the gulf. I think I need a new anchor (Fortress of Danforth) and significantly less chain. The Fortress anchor website recommends 6 ft chain for every 25 ft water depth. With the amount of chain that I now carry, I could anchor in 200 ft water which would be unlikely. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. Bill

 

[workingdogs]

Hi ,
I write this on the hook in the middle of nowhere ..... Can't believe I have 3G !
I HAD THE SAME PROBLEM !
My solution ...... 1 . Tighten the clutch ( use the wrench that came with it )
2 . The drive shaft has 2 lock keys that keep it from spinning freely , one of mine was not in place and was rattling about the housing . This didn't help .
General thoughts .....
Can't have too much chain , but your right there is not enough room to recover from full deployment . So deploy from the captains chair and recover using the bow controls and shove the offending chain aside halfway thru the process .
Danforth anchors are great , but they can really dig in and can require some extra effort to recover .
So far , no issues with the one that came with the boat .
Good luck !

 

[Irish Mist]

I too have these issues and sometimes having to move in the middle of the night due to wind change and high seas It can get dangerous. I find the chain part usually works fine but the rode is an issue. It seems to not release sometimes and jambs between the winder and the base past the hole where it goes into the locker. I have played with tightening and loosening but seems to make no difference. This leads to my question.. What does the wrench look like that comes with the boat? I am the second owner and not sure it made it with the boat
Thanks
Mark

 

[circusmar]

the anchor lockers on our boats are on the small side, an understandable compromise... no getting around having to move chain and rope out of the way as one retrieves.

switched to a Rocna anchor from the OE claw. pleased so far

 

[Todd]

If your rope part of the anchor system is the problem it is most likely following the windless around and jamming instead of falling into the anchor compartment. This will happen when the rope starts to get stiff.

The solution is to clean the rope and then soak it in a bucket containing a liberal dose of fabric softener. Keep needing the rope while it is in the bucket to get all the fibers loose and back to the original flexibility. this should solve the problem.

You may still need to adjust the pile that comes into the locker but it should solve the jamming problem. Chain is good! don't shorten the chain.