Electric anchor windlass

[hornpiper]

We have recently got an electric windlass and started anchoring. We are novices at this. What do people find is best to let the anchor go under free fall as though there were no windlass or let it down under power using the windlass?

 

[john_morris_uk]

We always lower ours on the windlass.

Two reasons: firstly its easier to see the chain markers as the chain is paid out so you know how much you have veered. Secondly, the anchor and chain doesn't end up on the bottom in a snotty heap. Lay the chain out as the boat pays off and you have a better idea of what is happening and you don't foul your own anchor.

 

[PaulGooch]

Same as John.

Also, when you retrieve the anchor, don't drag the boat along with the windlass, slowly motor forward (take the engine in and out of gear if needs be), so the windlass just hauls the slack rope/chain. Once your bow is over the anchor, the windlass should lift it easily. If it doesn't, tighten down on the chain until the bow pull down a bit, then pause. The motion of the boat will tug the anchor from the seabed without straining the windlass.

 

[Angele]

We always lower ours on the windlass.

Two reasons: firstly its easier to see the chain markers as the chain is paid out so you know how much you have veered. Secondly, the anchor and chain doesn't end up on the bottom in a snotty heap. Lay the chain out as the boat pays off and you have a better idea of what is happening and you don't foul your own anchor.

I do the opposite, allowing gravity to do the work.

But, I achieve both of John Morris's aims:

I can see the chain markers as they go past (it doesn't go down too fast that you cannot).

As soon as I know it is on the bottom, I tighten the windlass to stop more paying out. The person on the helm engages reverse so any chain that has ended up on top of the anchor (probably only a couple of metres) is pulled off and I gently release the brake to allow more to be pulled out of the locker as the boats reverses away from the anchor. Then, when the scope is right, lock it again when you want to dig it in properly.

Two advantages I find:

Less load on the batteries.
You get the anchor on the bottom much more quickly.

p.s. I can adjust the braking power on the windlass by varying the tightness of the drum. This allows good control over the speed with which the chain comes out of the locker. I don't know whether all models can do this.

 

[noelex]

We have recently got an electric windlass and started anchoring. We are novices at this. What do people find is best to let the anchor go under free fall as though there were no windlass or let it down under power using the windlass?

The aim is to able to drop the chain at the same speed as the boat is going backwards. You want the chain straight, but try not to apply too much force on the anchor until you have a reasonable scope ( say 3.1). If you apply force to anchor before this amount of scope is out the anchor will slide backwards and pickup debris such as weed and will not set. On the other hand if you pile the chain in lump when you apply some reverse engine force the anchor will be suddenly jerked as the chain pulls tight causing the anchor not to set.
So chain out at the same speed as the boat is going backwards.

With our anchor winch "powering" down is OK to about 25-30 knots of wind. Above this wind strength the boat moves backwards quicker then the chain powers down, so I release the the clutch and let the chain go out quicker. The wind speed at which this occurs will vary considerably from one boat to another, with the winch speed etc.

Once you have a reasonable scope you can start to apply some force to the chain, but it is better to set the anchor when the maximum scope is reached as the angle of pull will be shallow and the anchor will set deeper.
Setting involves applying reverse power, most boats increase the reverse revs to 1/2 - full power for 15- 30 seconds.
If you are going backwards (use transits) your anchor is not holding.
Make sure you can recognise the transit changing. The vibration and change in the snubber angle is also a clue. Many inexperienced sailors drag backwards during the set without realising their anchor is not holding. Friction eventually brings them to a stop. When the wind picks up they drag their unset anchor.

 

[awol]

A word of warning which may not apply to your vessel. After a passage involving any rough water the chain in my locker gets fankled and will not necessarily run through the windlass without jamming. To avoid this I flake a fair amount of chain on the deck.

 

[Hoolie]

I've also recently fitted an electric windlass and to be able to let the anchor/chain descend slowly is a real luxury.
Previously it had to be "just let go" and it ripped out without any control until it jammed somewhere under the front of the anchor locker
As has been said, release it at the speed you're going astern - much, much better.

ps I can't find the link, but somewhere on these forums is posted a clip of a largish ship anchor and chain going out of control. Scary

 

[LadyInBed]

Previously it had to be "just let go" and it ripped out without any control until it jammed somewhere under the front of the anchor locker

My electric winch is 'one way' so I can't use it to lower the anchor, but I don't let the chain go out of control, I feed it out hand over hand.

 

[Blueboatman]

Good advice from AWOl as per usual.

Recommendation ( not yet done ahem) for my boat is a sawn off traffic cone within the anchor locker, just feel a bit silly walking home from the pub acting the hatted student...

When digging in the anchor set the chainhook and bridal line to the chain to relieve the windlass of the full load, usually recommended.

 

[Billjratt]

Running the anchor out under power doesn't steal many amps - the motor is in overrun mode and it is nice to drop the anchor from the wheelhouse/helm position where the gear selector usually is. We let it out about 15 ft at a time, waiting for the wind to cause a mini-snatch before letting out more chain - timing this controls the amount of "chug" and digs in the anchor, then a blast of reverse while looking sideways at a transit finishes the job.
Again, control of the windlass at the helm position allows easy retrieval as outlined previously.

 

[RupertW]

I tend to power down if the depth is less than about 5m. If it's deeper I like it to drop as fast as possible then power it out slowly as soon as a couple of metres of chain are at the bottom. That way we drift the minimum amount in a crowded anchorage.

I can always see the markers go past when it's going out fast - well usually just the first marker at 10m. The chain's on the bottom well before 20m mostly.

 

[seagypsywoman]

I also have a new windlass (love it!) after many years of hauling by hand and am just learning how to use it. I also slowly let the windlass drop enough chain as I watch it from the bow. After I put out sufficient scope, I put the snubber hook on the chain to ease the pull on the windlass, secure it on both sides to bow cleats and then dig the anchor in.
My question is: if later on the wind increases, how do I get the snubber off quickly to let more chain out?

 

[Neeves]

We power down, but are running the engine)s) - the impact on the batteries is/are minimal. If you have decent marks at sensible intervals of length (or depth) you will see the marks, no matter how fast the chain deploys. We have yellow paint marks and thin cable ties at 10m intervals (we have a code in the hatch of the anchor locker). If you cannot see cable ties, you must be blind (in which case you can feel them)

I would not set the anchor using a snubber, seems to defeat the object of the exercise, as the snubber stretches and some of the energy you thought was being used to set the anchor is going into stretching the snubber (and reducing its life). But each to their own.

So deploy 3:1, 5:1 (defined from the bow roller, not depth of water). Set you chain lock, short snubber (I'll define that later) and tension the rode. To half or full revs, whatever you like - but full revs in most yachts will be about the tension you will experience at about 30 knots. I'd hold it at full revs for 30-60 seconds.

If there are 2 of you then the one on the bow can put their fingers on the rode - if it vibrates at half/full revs you are probably dragging and the vibration is the anchor bouncing over the seabed.

If you are in clear water and the bottom has weed - look for the white patches, they will be sand and a very good place to drop the anchor. Try to anchor in sand, not weed. If the patches of sand are small - that's a very good time to use freefall for the windlass - your speed of drift might be such that if you 'power down' the anchor might miss the sand (completely).

You should be using a snubber when at anchor, it will remove all shock loads if it is sized correctly. Snubbers should be about boat length. and stretchy.

Snubbers are consumables, they get old and wear out. You cannot judge when it will fail so you need a back up to ensure the rode tension is never on the windlass. So devise a short snubber (or chain lock) to take the load (and keep the load off the windlass and directed at a strong point (bow cleat, samson post)). The short snubber can be dyneema, its so short it will not offer elasticity so may as well make it bullet proof (dyneema).

Windlass are not designed to take the full load of the rode, which in the extreme can be huge (and bend the shaft or pull the windlass out of the deck) - hence the short snubber to a strong point.

If this all sounds complex, its not.

Jonathan

 

[Neeves]

I also have a new windlass (love it!) after many years of hauling by hand and am just learning how to use it. I also slowly let the windlass drop enough chain as I watch it from the bow. After I put out sufficient scope, I put the snubber hook on the chain to ease the pull on the windlass, secure it on both sides to bow cleats and then dig the anchor in.
My question is: if later on the wind increases, how do I get the snubber off quickly to let more chain out?

If you have a long snubber you do not need to take the snubber hook off, simply deploy more snubber and more chain.

Jonathan

 

[GrahamD]

My question is: if later on the wind increases, how do I get the snubber off quickly to let more chain out?

The easiest way is to ease the snubber until the weight of the boat is taken on the windlass, disconnect the hook from the chain, (if it has not fallen off), then release more chain and re-set the snubber.

If the hook won't disconnect under gravity you may need to carefully wind in a bit of chain to bring the hook within reach. If the chain is heavily loaded you could start the engine and nudge forward to take the load temporarily

 

[SimonFa]

Best investment I've made, especially as I have a dodgy back. Retrieving the anchor single handed is a bit difficult and I just use the windlass to pull in enough that the chain goes taut and then I leave the boat to settle, repeat until over the anchor and raise.

I need to get in to the habit of setting the anchor watch in iSailor as I drop the anchor, that way I know where it is and can drive the boat towards it whilst raising the anchor from the helm position.

I use little bits of coloured ribbon as chain markers based on snooker ball colours eg red = 5m, yellow 10m etc. They've been on 3 years and are still clear. (H/T Duncan Wells in Stress Free Sailing). That way when I walk down to the bow after dropping from the helm position I know how much is out.

 

[ip485]

I also power down, unless the water is deep and I want the anchor on the bottom quickly. The anchor is a reasonably heavy 55kg so it seems a lot more controlled.

 

[RupertW]

Adding to my earlier reply with a few years experience in Greece which I didn't have then. I now don't just use the windlass clutch to let it down in deeper anchorage but now also use it when reversing to a quay. You have to do that at some pace in a cross-wind and the power down isn't nearly fast enough to allow the helmsperson to control the boat. Easy to ease and tighten the clutch as you go to vary the speed out.

 

[TQA]

I always powerdown making sure that I am going backwards. Trying to control 55lbs of anchor and 3/8th chain in 60 ft of water manually is a recipe for disaster.

Providing the first few feet of chain are laid out in the correct direction I don't worry about the rest as long as I am not dumping on top of the anchor.

I ALWAYS back down on my anchor, initially at idle until the chain straightens out then gradually increasing to 2/3rds throttle. Using simple cross bearings I check to see if I am moving. NB if new to this anchoring lark try standing on the chain while someone operates the engine during the backdown, you soon learn the sound and feel of a moving chain compared to a set anchor. Also learn to watch the bow during this process, the bow will suddenly point towards the anchor, the chain will come out of the water and the bow should dip slightly as the anchor 'sets'. People who don't do this scare the **** out of me if they are anchored in my vicinity.

I use colored cable ties as markers. First ones are 70ft. which is my minimum scope,second at 140ft third at 210ft. I never use less than 70ft except on a Med moor in a tight harbor.

14 years of living on the hook.

 

[RupertW]

I always powerdown making sure that I am going backwards. Trying to control 55lbs of anchor and 3/8th chain in 60 ft of water manually is a recipe for disaster.
.

I bow to the length of your experence on the hook but the point of the manual clutch (or more accurately brake I suppose) is to allow you to control a fast or slow speed as you go without getting hands near the mechanism. I wouldn't want to power down all the way in 20m of water and certainly couldn't cope with the delay of powering down when reversing back to a quay in a cross wind.

Is there a reason for objecting to using the clutch when lowering. I can see no advantage in using single speed powerdown when all other speeds are available on manual clutch and lever?