Winch handle lost, time to get to the seabed?

[MM5AHO]

We're just back from a trip round Rockall (that's another story!), but part way there, I managed to drop the very old winch handle overboard.
The depth, according to the chart at that point was 2060 metres.
How long would the handle take to reach the seabed?

 

[RichardS]

We're just back from a trip round Rockall (that's another story!), but part way there, I managed to drop the very old winch handle overboard.
The depth, according to the chart at that point was 2060 metres.
How long would the handle take to reach the seabed?

Either way, it's too late now.

Richard

 

[VicS]

We're just back from a trip round Rockall (that's another story!), but part way there, I managed to drop the very old winch handle overboard.
The depth, according to the chart at that point was 2060 metres.
How long would the handle take to reach the seabed?

About 6½ minutes

 

[Cardinal]

Does that answer account for the probability of the handle hitting a fish (jelly or otherwise) en route?
Was the water temperature near the surface recorded, to assist calculation?

 

[Hydrozoan]

About 6½ minutes

Check: I reckoned about 7 minutes for a weight of 1 kg, projected area of 9 sq cm and Cd=1 (giving Vterminal ~ 4.5 m/s).

 

[William_H]

I have one winch handle, a very crude metal thing that came with the boat as original so now 36 yo. Being so tatty it seems to be immortal. I have had a succession of plastic floating winch handles which I like because they are lighter and not so noisy if dropped in the cockpit but which do have a habit of leaping over board. Note if you do go back for a floating winch handle you then need to have something like a fishing scoop net to actually pick it up. A boat hook is pretty much useless. Perhaps the best bet is to send a man overboard to fetch bit. No I am not in UK cold waters r open ocean though. olewill

 

[Neeves]

When we raced I had a simple rule, defined to any crew member - if you dropped a winch handle, you bought the replacement.

It was a very successful rule

I was only person to lose one overboard, double handled Lewmar.



We did not go back to look for it.

Jonathan

 

[MM5AHO]

We were fortunate to have 4 handles aboard. I have a floating one at the mast, and normally one in the cockpit and 2 spares. I'm now down to only 1 spare, and at the rate I loose them (one every 20 years or so), I might need to stock up! It was me the skipper who lost it, so not blaming others!

 

[lpdsn]

About 6½ minutes

It would probably take longer to reach the bottom if it was one of those winch handles that was supposed to float.

 

[tudorsailor]

We're just back from a trip round Rockall (that's another story!), but part way there, I managed to drop the very old winch handle overboard.
The depth, according to the chart at that point was 2060 metres.
How long would the handle take to reach the seabed?

Don't know the answer. However this is an opportunity to upgrade to a Lewmar one touch winch handle. Brilliant bit of design

TudorSailor

 

[MM5AHO]

I suspect I don't want the new Lewmar handle. The Rival is a narrow boat, and a narrow cockpit. The distance between the guard rail wires and the centre line of the genoa winch is just less than the winch handle length. But the alingnment is such that a handle with a short handgrip fits below the lower guardrail wire, but one with a long (tall) handgrip would probably foul the wire, and cause frustration to the delegated person providing motive power.
But they do look a nice handle if that were not a consideration.
I had two spares, one now pressed into main duty.

 

[DJE]

They do seem to come with a choice of handle types and lengths.
https://www.marinesuperstore.com/de..._X-7T7VwWnwAUuatBx87zHp4HGUGpVeBoCXioQAvD_BwE

 

[Alan S]

I dropped a teaspoon overboard becalmed in 4000m. I could see it fluttering down for about half a minute. I think it would have taken over an hour to reach Davy Jones.

 

[rogerthebodger]

I lost a winch handle last year but not on my boat.

I was using and old boat winch to lift a pump from the bottom of a 100 metre deep bore hole in my garden and I knocked the winch handle out of the winch and yes it went straight down the bore hole.

 

[BelleSerene]

Don't know the answer. However this is an opportunity to upgrade to a Lewmar one touch winch handle. Brilliant bit of design

TudorSailor

Yes. Or even better, a Ronstan quick-lock handle. The difference is that you don’t need to press the bar lever to insert the handle in the winch. In the same way that you don’t need to (and wouldn’t want to) turn a Yale lock latch to close a door, only to open it.