A question on setting the anchor..

[monte]

Thanks again for the replies and the offer Frank!
Yes I know not to overload the windlass motor, I thought backing down on it=motor not running so no load on the motor, but it makes sense not to overload the gears as well. Tche manual is hopeless and doesnt explain what the 'lock' lever does and as its tucked away under the gypsy Id probably prefer not use it anyway. I'll just put the bridal on and later add a mechanical chain lock near the anchor I guess.
The windlass won;t operate unless the port engine is running anyway so its just as easy to motor over the chain, but it would be nice to know if theres a way around that in case of port engine trouble to save manually weighing anchor..!

[Lagoon4us]

Yer i don't like this port motor idea at all its dumb! We have thruster batteries close by i'm thinking of tapping into them via a selector switch so then can choose.
When we are anchored the chain from the winch is left totally slack, the bridle holds the load then a rope is tied to the anchor cleat and hooked to the chain as second back up.....

[micah719]

Is there a simple robust setup where you can run an endless chain loop from the windlass to a gypsy, and gear that down further to another gypsy to haul the rode?

I was thinking a promising DIY setup could be made out of an auto or light truck diff gear....figuring with one output axle locked one gets about 8:1 reduction and uses the input as the rode gypsy....or about 4:1 if one locks the two outputs together. In a pinch you could attach a winch handle to the end of the shafts and have a combo of 1:1 for taking slack, and the reduction gear for when it gets tough. Must get me to the wreckers yard and get a cheap diff to play around with....

[Lagoon4us]

You'll retire on that one......