Fitting an SL Hyspeed Windlass-a few questions

[Iain C]

Thanks to a £10 boat jumble bargain, new sprockets/chains, and some helpful forum members, I now have an SL Hyspeed ready to go on my foredeck. Boat is a Sabre 27, so there's just a bronze stemhead fitting, rather than a roller. At the mo, behind that, lives an aft-facing hawse pipe, and behind that, a samson post which takes the loads of the swinging mooring where the boat is usually kept.

So I was thinking of the following setup...

-Install the windlass between the bow fitting and the samson post (distance from bow not critical as the anchor stows on deck rather than over the bow)
-Cut a new hole in the deck, as far back as possible whilst still allowing the gypsy to drop the chain straight down the "hole" in the base plate of the windlass, down into the chain locker below (the chain needs to be running as near to the chain locker/forecabin dividing bulkhead as possible)
-Use a snubber when at anchor to take the loads. Drop spliced loop over samson post, hook end over the bow. The windlass itself may "deflect" the straight run slightly, is this a big problem?
-When on the swinging mooring, I will modify the top end of the mooring setup so that I have a large loop of plastic covered chain that I can drop over the samson post. Plastic should stop the chain chewing the windlass too much.

Questions:

-It's possible that with careful positioning of the windlass, the run from the samson post will be fair (I could also move the samson post slightly off centre to help with this. However has anyone else had this problem and how did you overcome it?

-I understand that the gypsy needs to be in line with the bow fitting, rather than the windlass being central. However, as my bow fitting is essentially two sheaves, with the forestay on a central divider, is it OK to take it a little off centre so that the chain tends to rub the stbd side of the sheave, i.e. the one without the forestay clevis pin?

-If the chain is dropping straight down into the locker, I presumably do not need any kind of stripper?

-What can I do to keep the water out of the hawse pipe? My 90 degree pipe obviously won't be any good, but I somehow need some kind of cover that I can slide over the hole in the windlass that the chain passes through (see pic). Any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Poignard]

I fitted my manual windlass aft of the samson post and near to the coachroof so that I can sit on the forehatch when recovering the anchor (35lb) by hand or using the windlass. This makes the job very easy and, being higher up, I can more easily see what's going on around me.

I arranged it so that the Gypsy was in line with the starboard bow roller.

The chain bears very lightly on the pre-existing s/s samson post. I considered shifting this to port a little but in practice it causes no problem at all.

The chain drops vertically down into the chain locker which is in the V between the forward bunks.

Water can get down the chain but a bit of sponge stops that.

The next improvement will be a chain stopper to hold the chain temporarily when I stop for a breather or when waiting for the chain to slacken.

 

[ianabc]

A good improvement might be...

A device used here on the west coast of Canada and often seen on metal boats is a 6 inch high vertical two inch dia pipe welded to the deck near the stem.

On top of the pipe on the welded cap is a V a stainless V

in which the chain can be dropped and so locking the chain.


Takes the load off the windlass and allows hand chain hauling in case of failure.


On a wood or glass boat a flange would be welded to the base of the vertical pipe and bolted through to the foredeck with suitable, huge, reinforcement!

 

[SHUG]

To keep the water (or most of it) out of the hawse pipe, cut the core that resulted when you cut the hole and cut it in half. Then with a bit of skillful carving you can match it up so that it jams into the hole along with the chain to make a reasonable seal.If you can get a bit of pipe metal or plastic to give you a one inch upstand at the hawse pipe it will make a great difference to the amount of water which gets below.

 

[richardsnowstar]

-What can I do to keep the water out of the hawse pipe? My 90 degree pipe obviously won't be any good, but I somehow need some kind of cover that I can slide over the hole in the windlass that the chain passes through (see pic). Any thoughts?

I posted about this problem.....see http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=284104

Also got this reply by joshaantje with a similar post on the Southerly Owners forum;
We have done the following things which have improved matters but not completely eradicated the ingress:
1. Fitted a short downpipe around the chain beneath the navel pipe inside the chain locker to stop water tracking across the deckhead in the locker. The water now goes down the downpipe and when it gets to its lower end drips onto the pile of chain.
2. Fitted a navel pipe bung, as described by me in PBO April issue. This stops water getting into the chain locker.