How to get anchor up if electric windlass fails

[AntarcticPilot]

I had the same windlass on my last boat and the motor seized so impossible to move it at all. As suggested locking it and using the handle works very slowly if the motor is free. I retrieved the anchor manually.

I have a manual "Anchorman" Winch, which is basically the same winch without a motor! But it works very well; if I motor slowly (tick-over speed) towards the anchor it works well. But the trick is a) to use a long winch handle (I use a "One-Touch" handle) and b) to get your weight directly over the winch. The latter makes a surprising amount of difference.

Obviously, I don't know how the motor-driven winch is arranged, but surely the clutch mechanism will completely disengage the gypsy from the motor, allowing it to be used exactly like my manual winch? I know one problem with the manual winch is that if not used for a while, it can be difficult to get the clutch to disengage.

 

[Neeves]

I have a manual "Anchorman" Winch, which is basically the same winch without a motor! But it works very well; if I motor slowly (tick-over speed) towards the anchor it works well. But the trick is a) to use a long winch handle (I use a "One-Touch" handle) and b) to get your weight directly over the winch. The latter makes a surprising amount of difference.

Obviously, I don't know how the motor-driven winch is arranged, but surely the clutch mechanism will completely disengage the gypsy from the motor, allowing it to be used exactly like my manual winch? I know one problem with the manual winch is that if not used for a while, it can be difficult to get the clutch to disengage.

The problem with manually operating an electric windlass (with a winch handle) is that the windlass is deck located to be convenient to retrieve using foot switches or a remote. Using a winch handle in a deck located windlass - all the ergonomics are wrong (and almost as if designed to need the services of a chiropractor)

It saves your back to keep your electric windlass serviced.

Jonathan

 

[AntarcticPilot]

The problem with manually operating an electric windlass (with a winch handle) is that the windlass is deck located to be convenient to retrieve using foot switches or a remote. Using a winch handle in a deck located windlass - all the ergonomics are wrong (and almost as if designed to need the services of a chiropractor)

It saves your back to keep your electric windlass serviced.

Jonathan

Mine is mounted at deck level, and I have no problems operating it without back strain. As I have had chronic problems with back problems, alleviated a few years ago by surgery, I am VERY cautious about back strain; doing the wrong thing can put me in pain for several weeks. I kneel aft of the windlass and lean forward over it to wind the handle. As I mentioned, I motor slowly forward so I am not attempting to pull the boat forward by the winch; I am only lifting the chain until the chain is up and down over the anchor, and then the forward motion of the boat will tend to break the anchor out of the ground. So at no point am I expecting there to be more strain on the chain than its weight and that of the anchor. I find that that procedure works very well, even if the anchor is well set in thick mud, and the main problem is winding fast enough if the boat moves forward too fast! It's certainly FAR easier on my back than attempting to pull the chain up without the benefit of a winch!

It would work just as well if I sat aft of the winch with my legs on either side, but the space on my boat doesn't lend itself to that.

 

[Mudisox]

Don't panic and take your time by using the manual methods already describe. Make sure you keep your back safe and the final hoist is not hurried.

Or you will end up with a back like mine later in life.

 

[Neeves]

Mine is mounted at deck level, and I have no problems operating it without back strain. As I have had chronic problems with back problems, alleviated a few years ago by surgery, I am VERY cautious about back strain; doing the wrong thing can put me in pain for several weeks. I kneel aft of the windlass and lean forward over it to wind the handle. As I mentioned, I motor slowly forward so I am not attempting to pull the boat forward by the winch; I am only lifting the chain until the chain is up and down over the anchor, and then the forward motion of the boat will tend to break the anchor out of the ground. So at no point am I expecting there to be more strain on the chain than its weight and that of the anchor. I find that that procedure works very well, even if the anchor is well set in thick mud, and the main problem is winding fast enough if the boat moves forward too fast! It's certainly FAR easier on my back than attempting to pull the chain up without the benefit of a winch!

It would work just as well if I sat aft of the winch with my legs on either side, but the space on my boat doesn't lend itself to that.

Sorry but for me - pull it up hand over hand, having chain hooks on short strops available.

But then I'm using 6mm chain with aluminium or HT anchors of around 8kg each. If it was 8mm or 10mm chain and a 20kg anchor - I might think differently.

Jonathan

 

[awol]

If the RNLI are there for when the wind don't blow and/or the donk don't go then a non-functioning anchor winch should bring them out pdq. Just make sure your exploits are reported here!

 

[Sea Change]

Sorry but for me - pull it up hand over hand, having chain hooks on short strops available.

But then I'm using 6mm chain with aluminium or HT anchors of around 8kg each. If it was 8mm or 10mm chain and a 20kg anchor - I might think differently.

Jonathan

You need to eat your porridge. I'm on 10mm chain and a 25kg anchor and hauling up by hand is only a problem in very deep water or very sticky holding where you end up lifting a big clump of seabed with you.
I've now installed an electric windlass but having lived with a manual one for several years, it wouldn't faze me in the slightest if the electric one failed.

 

[Zing]

The answer is also dependent on how strong the OP is and how heavy the ground tackle. I can’t lift mine manually, so my back up plan is to tie a spare line onto the chain with a rolling hitch, pull it with the cockpit winch as far as possible, then attach another to the other side‘s primary and pull some more then back to port side and so on. My primaries have actually more pulling power than the windlass, plus it helps they are electric. I have tested this once for fun.

 

[Tranona]

I have a manual "Anchorman" Winch, which is basically the same winch without a motor! But it works very well; if I motor slowly (tick-over speed) towards the anchor it works well. But the trick is a) to use a long winch handle (I use a "One-Touch" handle) and b) to get your weight directly over the winch. The latter makes a surprising amount of difference.

Obviously, I don't know how the motor-driven winch is arranged, but surely the clutch mechanism will completely disengage the gypsy from the motor, allowing it to be used exactly like my manual winch? I know one problem with the manual winch is that if not used for a while, it can be difficult to get the clutch to disengage.

It is nothing like an Anchorman - I had one for many years and it works like you say. The Lewmar does not. The gipsy is positively driven by the electric motor so when you clamp it tight you have to turn the motor as well. Good luck if like mine the motor seized. Also the handle is offset and really awkward to operate.

Found out all that the hard way one lovely summer's evening anchoring in Swanage Bay. Fortunately managed to get the anchor up and enough time to scoot back to the club before it got dark.

 

[WindyWindyWindy]

I went a few years without any windlass in a 37'er, it's easier than you expect to just haul it. Use the engine to take the weight off.

 

[Boathook]

I went a few years without any windlass in a 37'er, it's easier than you expect to just haul it. Use the engine to take the weight off.

I started to find my set up to difficult to haul in by hand, so went electric.
Even if the engine was used to help, the wind would still grab the bows, yawing all over the place, so the loading was beyond me.
I do have chain hooks just incase the windlass packs up.

 

[Sandy]

If the electric windlass fails how do i get the anchor up? The star shaped socket in photo attached is used for when it slips and needs tightening. However what do I do when it totally fails due to say no power?

You eat three shredded wheat and haul it up by hand.

 

[Neeves]

You need to eat your porridge. I'm on 10mm chain and a 25kg anchor and hauling up by hand is only a problem in very deep water or very sticky holding where you end up lifting a big clump of seabed with you.
I've now installed an electric windlass but having lived with a manual one for several years, it wouldn't faze me in the slightest if the electric one failed.

I freely admit to being a wimp. I've never tried it but hauling up 60m of 10mm chain, 2.3kg/m, plus a 25kg anchor I might find that little bit too much. At best, vertical chain, you are lifting 50kg in 8m depth - very tough even after real porridge for breakfast and a struggle single handed.

We had mast based winches which would be handy - but most modern yachts have all the winches down in the cockpit.

Which is one reason to have a, reliable and serviced, electric windlass.

and if I were

Sea Change​

I'd be looking at replacing my 10mm rode with 8mm HT.

Jonathan

 

[BobnLesley]

If the electric windlass fails how do i get the anchor up?

That my boy is why one gets married.
More seriously, I note several posts commenting on the manual over-ride feature, several of which show pictures of Lewmar windlasses; be aware, not all Lewmar windlasses - including ours - include that feature, fortunately our windlass became U/S in the Abacos, so while we were hand-hauling (OK, I was - the foredeck for some reason immediately became a blue-job) for several weeks, I think our deepest anchorage was about 8m and for the most part we were in 3-4m over clean sand.

 

[Sea Change]

Sea Change​

I'd be looking at replacing my 10mm rode with 8mm HT.

I don't think I can justify that. Changing the gypsy alone will cost hundreds. I also don't think there's a great variety of different types of chain available in the Caribbean, and what there is is not cheap. I'm hoping what I've got will last until I get home.

One thing I've learned from this thread is that I really appreciate my windlass design- Lofrans Tigres horizontal axis. It has a true manual mode which will work with the motor seized. It has a rope drum. And the axis means that you can haul hand over hand and just lay the chain down on to the gypsy and it will grab it.

I doubt I would entertain the idea of lifting hand over hand if I didn't have this setup.

 

[Neeves]

I don't think I can justify that. Changing the gypsy alone will cost hundreds. I also don't think there's a great variety of different types of chain available in the Caribbean, and what there is is not cheap. I'm hoping what I've got will last until I get home.

One thing I've learned from this thread is that I really appreciate my windlass design- Lofrans Tigres horizontal axis. It has a true manual mode which will work with the motor seized. It has a rope drum. And the axis means that you can haul hand over hand and just lay the chain down on to the gypsy and it will grab it.

I doubt I would entertain the idea of lifting hand over hand if I didn't have this setup.

If your gal is getting thin then once the gal has gone the chain will abrade more quickly than the gal did - the gal is harder than a G30 or G40 chain. The chain will also rust - but you will not see it if you are long term at anchor as the rust will simply be abraded off as it forms. The convention is you can afford a 10% reduction in chain size before the loss becomes a real issue (but you would be unusual if you carry a micrometer to allow you to check ).

Our windlass was actually below the deck making manual retrieval with the supplied winch handle really difficult. Maxwell sell a 'vertical' extender - lifts the use of the handle up. But it was not an essential investment for us - retrieving 6mm chain is easy. We intentionally did not option a rope drum as the clear deck has advantages and we would have had to cut a hole in the deck for the drum - not difficult - but it would have spoilt the hazard free deck. We also had two mast located winches which could easily be used for retrieval. We also fitted an enlarged link on the bitter end of the 6mm chain, 75m, which would allow easy and quick attachment of a rope rode.

I appreciate gypsies are very expensive, for what they are, but if you wanted to consider a smaller chain (8mm), which will have some savings over replacing the existing 10mm - there are some developments in chain supply qualities which might be interesting for you. Post a new thread or send me a PM and I'll update you at the time.

The best time to down size is when you need a new windlass or are commissioning a new yacht - the fact that windlass can last 'for ever' means most people will not change - the expense outweighs the, "subjective", advantages

Jonathan

 

[Airscrew]

Make certain you know how to tie a rolling hitch.
Hitch 1st warp/stern line to chain, and pull or winch up to the primary on one side.
Make off.
Hitch 2nd line to chain at bow, make off at opposite primary.
Release 1st hitch, and repeat but down opposite side.
Repeat as necessary.

That was a stripped windlass gearbox, and 60m plus the 25kg is a proper workout.
It happens!!

 

[Stemar]

Hmm, this thread seems to me to be another argument in favour of a mixed rode.

We had mast based winches which would be handy

On our Snapdragon, I tried using it to wind in a similar load, but I didn't like the way the mast was bending, so quickly moved back to a sheet winch

 

[Neeves]

Hmm, this thread seems to me to be another argument in favour of a mixed rode.


On our Snapdragon, I tried using it to wind in a similar load, but I didn't like the way the mast was bending, so quickly moved back to a sheet winch

Catamarans, cruising, tend to have chunky masts. Chunky to take higher loads than a mono.

Also

We had a chunky curved sheet track, for the self tacking jib, at the base of the mast secured at each end and in the middle of the track. Any rope used to retrieve the anchor was routed from the winch, vertically down to a big block on the track, roughly over the central securement point, and then parallel to the deck to the rode.

If we had had a mast that could be seriously tweaked - I'd do as you have done.

We had 2 mast based winches and could use 2 ropes to retrieve, winch one rope in, hold, add next chain hook, winch in (loosening first chain hook) etc.

If you have a long enough snubber it becomes a mixed rode - I think the thread argues for a lighter rode

Jonathan