Fitting Of An Anchor Windlass

[sailingrbg]

I am about to install my new anchor windlass in the bows, the motor fitted in the roof of the fore cabin. can anyone suggest what the best / stongest means of filler epoxy for strenghening the through deck apperture,
Is the normal fibreglass resin/ hardner the most effective filler. The deck is a balsa core so I will be removing some of this to strengthen the area round the windlass

Any help or suggetions gratefully received

 

[lw395]

I would be inclined to remove say 2cm of the balsa core and fill with epoxy and glass. Maye add some filler powder (silica?) to reduce sagging, but mostly rely on masking off the bottom of the hole and adding the epoxy from above.
Like wise, any bolts threough the deck, drill through, remove a ring of balsa around the hole using a sharpened old allen key in a power drill or similar, mask off the bottom and stuff with epoxy/glass. If you then put a dowel or similar through the hole, its easier to re-drill the hole than drilling through an inch or so of epoxy/glass.
The deck then won't compress when you do the bolts up.
Hope that helps!

 

[jerryat]

You don't say what boat you have, nor is it in your bio! You may well find that the manufacturer of your boat has already fitted what is basically a 'king plank' in lieu of balsa in this area. Westery certainly did for example. After all, a windlass is a common factory-fitted option so they minimise any unnecessary work.

I should check it out first as you may find all you need is a decent sized backing plate in either stainless steel or alumimium bedded down (or should that be 'up') to ensure an even bearing on the underdeck.

 

[afp]

Just fitted a windlass to RedBoat which is also balsa cored. We also epoxied a couple of layers of thinnish plywood on the inside by way of a backing plate.

It had to be several thin layers because the deck is curved at the bows.

 

[vyv_cox]

As Redboat suggests, plywood makes an excellent base if you can fit it into the anchor well. I used a piece about 20 mm thick, bolted through the deck in the anchor well area where the deck was only single skinned.

Otherwise, epoxy is a far better bet than polyester resin, as its adhesion to existing GRP will be considerably stronger. I'm not sure what you mean by 'filler' but don't be tempted to bodge any resin into gaps in the hope that they will strengthen things up. They won't.

The main thing to watch when fitting a windlass is that the fall of chain into the locker is maximised. If the fall is into the usual inverted pyramid-shaped locker, set the fall from the gypsy above the point of the pyramid. Through a hawse pipe is OK but the fall must be vertical and there must be enough space below the end for all the chain.