Anchor Windlass Project

[rbrtfeld]

For anyone that had thought about a windlass for the 323, I saw this picture of a windlass setup on a boat for sale on Yachtworld. This is the same project I have been working on. It was nice to see someone already thought of the deck buildup to make the chain and line to match up with the height of the Gypsy. It needs to be around 5 1/2 inches. I built up my deck 3 1/2 inches and now to finish the job I plan to fit an Anchorlift Dolphin 1000 D1012C almost exactly like the one in the picture. I will send more pictures when I complete mine and will have a better idea of the  time and money involved. I think I want to know, maybe not. Hey it's a Boat.

[Dave]

My wife handles the anchor most of the time. She has been asking about this so I am watching this thread with great anticipation. Lots of photos and lots of details would be great. The price part scares me.

[Dulcinea]

Thanks for posting that pic.  I am also about to install a windlass.  After buying the Lewmar H3 horizontal windlass, a bit bulky and hard to fit with the limited deck space on a 323, I exchanged it for a Maxwell 10-8 vertical with gypsy only.  The picture you posted tends to make me feel better about getting the vertical as the installation, even with the pad underneath seems to be a cleaner install.  As information, having handled the Lewmar h3, a product at the top of their offerings, the Maxwell unit appears to be sturdier in weight and build (made in New Zealand) and the electrical parts (switches, circuit breaker)  remind me of the quality Blue Sea Systems stuff.  As for chain, I bought 200 ft of Acco g4.  It gets a bit expensive but this is one of the areas where you can beat Defender's prices.  They have 5/16 G4 at $4.29 while windlasschain.com will sell it for $3.50 but seems to want to sell pre-cut lengths.  Maybe they're an outlet for leftovers from big jobs or from the factory.  Saved me $158.00, though.

As we all know, solid ground tackle is critical to the safety of your boat and til now, I have been guilty of giving it far less attention (and boat dollars) than it deserves.  For me at least at 64 years old, the ability to effortlessly deploy and retrieve a heavy, stout anchor and chain rode makes cruising more pleasurable and will no doubt make us less likely to end up as "marina hoppers". As we go through our individual installs, let's continue to document experiences here.  Would be a big help to me and I'm sure others as well.

[rbrtfeld]

Dulcinea,
The Maxwell is a great windlass, but I hope you can get it to fit if you are going to build up the deck like in the picture. In order to get the chain to line up without some kind of modification on the deck before it gets to the Gypsy, you need about 5 1/2 inches of Height.  This of course depends on the anchor roller you have.  Then you have to think about the units shaft assembly being long enough to reach the motor in the Locker area. I had to order a spare shaft from Anchorlift and will have to couple them together on order to have the key on the shaft fit and reach the Motor and gear assembly. Also I had to order extra length SS all thread for the Studs to reach as well. This turned out to be a bigger and more expensive project that I thought it was going to be. My advice is to think about the measurements and re-think them over and over again. There is such limited space to fit the Motor that it becomes a problem not matter what you choose to do. I bought my Anchorlift Dolphin 1000 about a year ago and then changed my mind and bought a earlier version of the Quick Prince model DP2E Vertical that I thought would be easier to install. I then let someone change my mind that we could make the Achorlift 1000 fit. If I had to do it over again, I would highly consider the Quick unit. Maxwell has a unit that is similar (RC6) but only has 500 watts of power and is probally to small to work for you. Hope I did not make you crazy thinking about this. I went back and forth a least 10 times. I am still not sure I am doing the right thing but I am planning on trying to finish my install in the middle of Feb. I just want to get it over with and don't want to think about the time and money for this project. I will post pictures.  Good luck and let me know what you think you can come up with for your boat. Maybe between us we can help someone else come up with a better way. It sucks getting old, if I was 22 again, I would pull the anchor up by hand.

[Dulcinea]

Good advice.  Getting longer studs is no problem, but extending the shaft could be a long range issue.  May the horizontal is better, just have to extend the studs.  Thanks

[Dolce_Vita]

I like the idea of the vertical because you can mount it to get a reasonably fair lead from either side. 
With the horizontal shaft, you're going to have to point it to lead from one side or the other.

[rbrtfeld]

Dulcinea,

If you can send me a good picture of your anchor roller. I can give you my thoughts on what you need to look at. Some 323's have different rollers than mine. I spent a lot of time measuring and thinking about the angle of the chain where it would hit the gypsy. This has to be within 5 degrees or you will have problems. I saw a great article in Blue water sailing on this very subject. Part one was in September issue and Part 2 in November. I have the Novemeber issue and will have Part 1 this week.  Send me a quick note to rbrtfeld@aol.com and I will scan and email you the articles.

If anyone is interested in the Quick Crystal windlass I have, I would sell it for what I have in it. Check out this link for the details. I think I paid $550 for it with the drum option. I also have the wireless accesories for it as well. This might be one of the best options for the 323.
http://www.bargainboatparts.com/p-94615-quick-crystal-windlass.aspx   This has been replaced as the Prince model for 2014. Go to QuickUSA.com for info on the new model name.

[Dulcinea]

Also checking out the Lofrans Tigres.  It's a solid unit and is over 11 inches high with the center of the gypsy about 5 1/2 inches so it will only require a slight deck build up, if any at all. 

[rbrtfeld]

That might be the ticket. Great Units. So many choices to confuse us more. Good Luck. If you can get a copy of the templete and or better yet the whole unit to see what it would look like and then measure the angle from the roller to the gypsy, that will give the height you will need to build up if any. I am headed to California next week for a couple of days on business. Hopefully I get a few hours to see if I can finish my project.

[Dulcinea]

I've ordered the Lofrans and it's on the way.  I'll put it in place and take a pic of it so you can see the relative placement of it to the roller and chain.  It should be here by middle of next week.  By the way, I ordered this thing from a place called marinewarehouse.net in south Florida.  He was cheaper than Defender on the unit and doesn't charge tax when shipping outside of Florida, so I got the windlass for a little over $300 LESS than I would have paid at Defender.  His price on chain is also $.99 less than Defender on 5/16 G4. On 200 feet of chain that adds up.

[Dave]

I found this article very helpful.

http://www.goodoldboat.com/reader_services/articles/painless.php

[rbrtfeld]

Now the fun starts. That is a nice Windlass. Looking forward to seeing pictures of the install. Make sure you measure, measure and measure again the angle of the chain from the roller to the gypsy. One fun thing to look forward to is getting part of your body to fit into the chain locker from the V-Berth and then reach up to bolt the unit to the deck. For short fat guys like me it is interesting. Highly recommend a good backing plate under the deck to spread the load. Good Luck.

[Libations Too]

Dave, thanks for the Good Old Boat link...a nice article. Dulcinea, good luck on your install. Lots of pictures, lessons learned, etc. will be greatly appreciated!

[Alma]

Take a look at this!

What's wrong with this install?

Too funny! Who can see Pearson's folly?

[Dulcinea]

rbrtfeld,
the angle of the chain shouldn't be a problem.  May have to put a teak or starboard pad under it to bring it up just a bit, but the center of the chain gypsy is 5 1/2 off the deck and the chain rides slightly above that. I'm thinking 1 1/2 inches max to achieve 90 degrees.  As for the chain locker, I have a skinny 16 year-old who can hold a wrench and fits just fine. Complains a bit too much, tho so I use him for short projects.