Chain on Smooth drum

[nzmal]

I'm looking at a cavalier 39 of 1975 vintage... One thing that has me thinking is the windlass. It's a smooth vertical drum. (No chain gypsy) The rode is 100ft of stainless 10mm chain with more rope spliced on the end.
Will the smooth drum raise the chain?
The drum looks a bit pitted which leads me to think that this is the case. .. is this an issue I need to sort out or is it perfectly fine?

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[Stumble]

I have never tried wrapping chain around a capstan nor would I. At best it will work poorly and be prone to slipping, at worst you could do real damage to yourself or the equipment.

Depending on what is installed you may be able to replace the drum, but more likely you would need to install a combined chain/rope windlass. Figure about $1,000 for a new unit.

[Jim Cate]

It may not be yottie PC, but it will work. We've had friends who did that very procedure every time they weighed anchor. Two or three wraps of chain around the drum and a bit of tailing force keeps the slippage down to zip. Consider that roustabouts on oil rigs use this method to twist pipe sections together/apart hundreds of times daily... 'course, a few limbs are lost now and then...

wouldn't be my first choice, but with some practice you'll get the hang of it. If it is in th budget, a proper gypsy replacement would be better, as Stumble says.

Jim

[nzmal]

Thanks Jim. The couple who own the yacht are in their 80s so I don't see them manually hauling up 100 ft of 10mm chain... guess it must work for them.

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[Jim Cate]

If you do buy the boat, it might be a good idea to let the POs show you how they actually work the system. Sometimes us old farts have good practices worked out that are not intuitive!

Jim

[nzmal]

Yes thanks Jim. Exactly what I was thinking. If it works for them I'm sure I can make it work for me...They have owned the boat 30yrs so plenty of tricks up their sleeves. ☺

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[Snowpetrel]

Yeah, we used to do this as a kid on my grandfathers yacht. Worked, but was a bit brutal on the chain and the warping drum. In the old days they used wooden horizontal windlasses that pretty much self tailed with a few turns on them.

[svHyLyte]

A l-o-n-g time ago, I home made a windlass for our old boat out of an old winch by wrapping a length of heavy leather obtained from a saddle-maker's shop around the drum. I soaked the leather in warm water for some while to soften it and laced the end edges together with waxed leather thongs passed through pre-punched holes, crossed as one does with shoe laces. The leather shrinks as it dries and grips the barrel very firmly. Saddle soap/wax kept the leather and lacing in good shape and gave the material enough flex to allow the chain to "grip" the barrel without damaging it or the chain.

FWIW...

[reed1v]

If you do decide to run the chain through the drum, be careful of overrides. Easy to do without a gypsy. And a chain override can be nigh impossible to undo with some chains. If your using BBB chain, doubt if the windlass will be much good unless you apply a lot of your own power to raising the anchor.

Just replace the drum with a gypsy drum and be done with the issue.

[SailFastTri]

My 2 cents - sounds like a dangerous setup. An override or runaway chain can have very bad consequences.


If you shop you can replace the setup for under $k and your boat (and fingers) are worth more than that.

[uncle stinkybob]

What brand and model is the windlass? What size is the rope rode?

[unclemack]

@ svHyLyte

Don't I vaguely remember that it stretches when it gets wet?
It's been a long time...

I'd probably fix it like a redneck - 1/8" holes through the leather into the drum & some lovely pop rivets.

Or heat the drum with a blowlamp and wrap it with synthetic rope

[gjordan]

I did it for years on a 44 foot boat. It is not the best method. A new windlass would be better, but if you cant afford a new windlass you can do it. I had a couple of hundred feet of 7/8 multiplait nylon with a rope to chain splice to 60 foot of 3/8 chain. You handle the chain the same way you do the rope part, but much more carefully. You need to practice in shallow water and learn the proper angle to tail the line or chain. The angle and tension are critical for easy use. This is not something you want to be learning in a 40 foot deep anchorage and 20 knots of wind. I got very used to doing it, and never had a problem except the first few times. The placement of the foot switch is important so that you can operate it while comfortably tailing the line or chain. When you price out 200 foot of new chain, a new windlass plus replacing wiring and maybe shipping it to your location, the capstan method doesnt look so bad after all. _____Grant.

[Cheechako]

The drum will help raise the chain. But I wouldn't use it that way. Also, tailing a vertical drum is a PITA, you will be on your knees.

[HopCar]

It was a very common practice before the invention of combination gypsy.
It damages the drum a little as you've already observed. I wouldn't let that stop me from buying the boat if that is the only thing wrong with it. When you finally replace the windlass, get one with a combination gypsy.