Anchor Windlass on Dehler 34

[T_Hoeffken]

Hi,

Is there anybody out there who has experience with an anchor windlass on a Dehler 34. I would like to install one on my boat and I am confronted with 2 main questions:

1. Where is the best place to mount it? In front or behind the anchor locker?

2. Which models are suitable?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Kind regards

Thorsten

 

[steve_cronin]

On most boats behind the anchor locker or chain pipe is advisable as you need for the chain to come from the stemhead roller, over the windlass gipsy and forward into the chain locker. Otherwise there will not be sufficient chain in contact with the gipsy and it will jump out. Make sure that your chain and/or gipsy are both metric or imperial or again jump outs (& therefore wear 7 personal injury) will be common.

We ahve a Lofrans Tigre on our Bavaria 42 and it seems to do a good job. Buy oversize rather than undersize and always keep a spare remote control handy.

There will be a fair amount of disruption in fitting the cabling (very thick) and control panel (not weatherproof so needs to be below). You must also look at upgrading your domestic batteries. We have 2X 140Ah but with the fridge AND the windlass in the Med even these are beginning to look inadequate.

Steve Cronin

 

[Stemar]

As an alternative to heavy cable and general battery upgrades it may be possible to install a dedicated battery near the windlass, then the long wiring only has to carry recharging current.

The battery doesn't have to be huge - a 400w windlass will draw around 33 amps, so a 35amp hour battery should be able to run it for at least 1/2 an hour on a full charge (you don't want to discharge much below 50% under normal conditions).

 

[Guest]

I also own a Dehler 34. Some comments for your consideration :

The anchor well is slooping upward and shallow at the aft side. I wonder whether the chain can fall freely into the shallow part of the well with the windlass behind the well.

It is a sporty cruiser and the deck may not be able to support the windlass loading.
You also need to check & strenghten the deck where you want to install the windlass.

Arthur

 

[Guest]

number of issues to think thro
1/ where is the deck strongest / can easily be re-inforced. this issue needs care because you do get snatching loads
2/ windlasses are heavy and hawse pipes let in water. therefore as far back as poss
3/ decent run for the chain and do you need something to protect the deck
4/ you will almost always use it with the engine running so the batteries only have to deal with what the alternator is not outputting
5/ you can lift any weight with any power if you gear down enough. so yes, you can manage with 400w but 1000w is much faster and extra initial cost not great
6/ no doubt there will be someone along to tell me i did the wrong thing, but i used welding cable to wire in the windlass and it works fine . this cable is flexible, well armoured, and much cheaper than the pukka tinned ships cable.
7/ you can order calibrated chain through the local lifting tackle supplier(yellow pages) and its way cheaper than the chandler.
8/ i bought lofrans, which has, in my experience, an unsatisfactory design for using both chain and rope. works fine for chain though

 

[Twister_Ken]

Another reaon to install it aft of the locker is weight distribution. Weight in the ends of the boat is a bad thing. It encourages pitching, which saps speed. A windlass and its associated gubbins is a fairly heavy item, so move it aft if you can.

Having said all that, I've seen satisfactory windlasses mounted on a plinth in the anchor well, with the lid shaped to close around them, leaving only the gypsy above the deckline. Keeps the deck a little clearer and the weight a little lower. Is that possible on your D34.

One other consideration. Some people use a rope and chain windlass with the drum mouted horizontally to also handle halyards, as a way of power hoisting sails. I suspect a D34 has all lines led back over the coach roof so this probably doesn't matter to you, but if it does, then as near the mast as you can get the windlass, while it still serves satisfactorily for ground tackle, would be the answer.