Demountable windlass
Tim Handley designs and installs a dismountable anchor windlass
An ingenious electric windlass mount for occasional use
The time recently came for the addition of a windlass to Feng Shui, our 1986 Breehorn 37, to ease the effort of weighing anchor on the ageing arms and back. We have a 15kg Bruce anchor, with 50m of 8mm chain and 50m of warp.
The addition of a windlass is quite a common task, but every boat is different, and in our case, we have the original 13mm thick teak deck (now about 10mm) that I was loath to cut though. Luckily, the boat has a large and deep chain locker, which gave my imagination a chance to come up with a novel solution.
First, I considered the life of a windlass: for 99% of the time it’s an obstacle on the foredeck to trip over or catch the jib sheet, and gets used maybe less than 1% of the time.
This made me think that a removable windlass would make sense. I needed some way of mounting the unit for use and packing it away inside the chain locker when not in use. This would also avoid cutting the foredeck and teak decking, making it a much easier DIY job.
I decided to fit a 700W Lofrans Dorado, which weighs 11kg, then I set about designing a V-shaped sandwich plate system that could be bolted to the underside of the foredeck at the forward end of the locker.
The windlass would be mounted on an interfacing flat plate, that would butt hard against the deck at the forward edge of the locker.
To mount the winch, all that is required would be to open the two hatch doors, pick up the winch from its storage position in the bottom of the locker, slide its mounting plate into the horizontal V-slot, and then insert two locking pins.
I sent my drawings to Phoenix (316) Ltd of Plymouth, who produced some excellent parts.
Installation of the V-plates required use of heavy AISI 316 stainless steel countersunk head bolts for attachment to the deck rebate at the forward end of the locker.
Wiring back to the utility batteries was straightforward, using high quality multistrand copper cable that has good flexibility and accepts repeated bending. I also installed a remote control unit in the aft end of the locker, which takes moments to hook up prior to using the anchor.
I used a two-part silicon (soft) moulding rubber mix to make the cable terminations on the base of the winch fully watertight. I created a mould cut from a fizzy drink bottle to get the right shape and depth, then bound it in thick neoprene tape to prevent any damage when moving the winch from its storage position to the deck.
I installed two short channel sections inside the locker right at the bow in which to stow the windlass attached to its triangular plate. It was a natural fit in the forepeak. I plan to add a securing strap as well.
To date, this arrangement has proven very successful. It takes about ten seconds to mount and lock the winch into place. After the anchor is deployed and a chain snubber is in place, the winch can be either left in place if staying just for a few hours, or demounted and parked, and locker doors closed. In any emergency, one could just revert to manual recovery of the chain, although this is unlikely given the very short time it takes to put the winch into position.