Who’s Using a Manual Windlass for Daily Anchoring (and Liking It!)?

[IdoraKeeper]

I have a manual, would like to go electric. Manual is very slow and several hundred feet of chain is very heavy. Delay when its time to move quickly can exacerbate a hazard. I don't mind the effort of raising all that weight but don't like all the delay when single handed in tight situations.

[Dulls]

If you buy a boat and it has a certain type either elec or man then you tend to stick with it. We have a winch which is both man and elec which is best of both worlds. We were very happy with our man on our old boat and happy with this one but i am in the middle of fixing my electrical one as i speak so a man winch seems great at this point in time.

[SV Liberty]

We cruised on Liberty, a 1982 Morgan 416, for over 5 years, anchoring out most of the time. We have a manual windlass (SL Seatiger, I think - I'm off the boat as I type), a 25 kg Rocna on 5/16 HT 225' chain rode (plus 175 ft rode). I always use generous scope, unless really constrained by anchoring room, and then I look for a bigger hole in the crowd. I have never really wished for an electric windlass, although I certainly have joked about it with friends who have them. I'm patient when retrieving the anchor, and we rarely pull up the hook when its blowing hard - we did in the early years, but rarely now. That said, when we have had to, we have always gotten it up, no matter what the conditions. It does suck when we get in a place where we just don't get the set I'm happy with. By about the 4th time cranking in 100' plus of chain (I almost never put out less than 100') and raising the hook far enough off the seabed to reposition and try it again, I start to get tempted to live with a less than ideal set. But, then I remember dragging, I curse a little, and I crank it up again to get it right. Sometimes its nice to sail on and off the hook, and I suspect an electric windlass would need some serious batteries to allow that without the engine on. The key is patience. I crank a little, let the weight of the catenary pull the boat forward, crank a little, wait a little, crank a little, and by then I have .1 knot forward boat speed or so, which is to say, cranking speed. And if the wind is blowing too hard to easily retrieve the anchor, I ask myself if I really want to be heading out in such a blow.

[SVTwilight]

I am in a boat that does 6 knots so why would I be in a hurry to move anchor chain? My motor will hold our 36 ft. cutter just fine in almost any wind while I bring the anchor up. as far as having to move in a blow, with careful fore thought and placement of our 25 kg Rocna on 250' of 5/16 HT, that just doesn't happen very often to us.

Besides, if there is a blow, I trust my bronze manual windlass that I tear down each year, more that an electric one that will have special gremlins that only come out at the worst of times.

The cranking, like my manual sheet winches, help keep me fit! IT is no big deal.

That said if you have an electric one, don't necessarily change, but certainly do fixate on its health just as you would with your engine. You want it to work when you need it. You don't want to try to hoist the chain and anchor manually when you are not in shape for it!

Fair winds,

Todd

[Yerffoeg1]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Yes... you are crazy! haha... having said that, sure you can do it with a manual, many did for years. But having had both, I find it much easier in a blow with electric.... even with two people.

Hmm... I use to have a dial phone as well. Can you really consider pulling 50m of chain plus the anchor every other day... or would you like to be sailing...

[Marathon1150]

I was a great believer in the simplicity and purity of a manual windlass. Our first boat, a Van de Stadt 34 had a two speed manual windlass and a 15kg CQR. The manual windlass (Muir) worked well and everything was good. Our second boat was only 28' and had no windlass. All was still good. The next boat was 38' and had a manual windlass with a Fortress FX-16 that was too small for the boat so we swapped in a 40# Bruce and then a 20KG Rocna. I also switched to 3/8" all chain rode. Anchoring was beginning to become difficult because of increased loads. We also had to move the windlass location to accommodate a new inner forestay and the windlass never quite worked as well in the new location. As a result, I would think twice, maybe even three times, before moving the boat to a better spot in the same anchorage. Back issues that were seriously exacerbated by cranking the windlass, eventually convinced me to install an electric windlass. I would never go back to a manual windlass. The Lewmar H3 has been super reliable and we also bought a manual recovery kit, just in case.

[slug]

Originally Posted by 4arch

We plan to hop off for some extended cruising in a few months and will spend most of our time on the hook, moving every other day or so. Our boat came with a manual windlass that we’ll be using to raise a 55 lb. anchor on 3/8” all chain rode. I see that almost all discussion of windlasses focuses on electric models and that only one or two manual windlasses are still even made.

The idea of using the manual windlass appeals in many ways - the $2-3k cost of an electric windlass is saved, we get to build our upper body strength, it’s one less electrical item to break down/have to maintain/have to supply power for, and it will still work in the event of a complete electrical system failure. We’re both thirty-something so we’re not overly concerned about the manual labor of raising and lowering the anchor day to day.

If there’s anything we are worried about with the manual it’s being in a situation where the anchor is set hard, the wind’s piping up, and we have to get out in a hurry. Still, on our old boat we had no windlass and were able to motor forward on the rode in those situations.

So are we crazy to even think about sticking with the manual windlass? Are you out there on the hook using your manual every day and wouldn't have it any other way?

It’s crazy ..get an electric winch

It’s very important that one person can both drive the boat forward...keep head to wind ....and retrieve the anchor

[tkeithlu]

I have a manual backup to an electric that occasionally fails. The point on having a second person to stay at the helm and reduce the load on the chain is well taken. If I single handed, I'd buy a fully automatic windlass/chain stower.

[Steve Pope]

Have just watched a yachting Neighbour pulling 40m of 10mm chain by hand, his Maxwell winch had failed, (apparent worm gear failure) As I get older I think, hmm, maybe I should modernise. Then I see what I have just seen and think, hmm, maybe not just yet.

[Mike OReilly]

Fun that this thread has come back from the dead. I still have the same manual windlass, and agree with me from 2014 (kinda scary I've been around here that long ). After thousands of more nautical miles, and hundreds of nights at anchor, I continue to be completely pleased with my old manual windlass.

[AKA-None]

Well I wasn’t happy with the manual windlass on the schooner I was on. Just saying.

[RaymondR]

Yesterday afternoon I moved from an anchorage behind an island around to it's other side (in search of better TV reception) Just on dark a storm came out of the west, dragged my anchor and put me on a sand bar.

I'm single handing so I needed to get the anchor back and get off the sand bank in a hurry. Fortunately I have an electric winch.

I motored to a place with more dragging room, re-anchored, and found that the Delta anchor on 3/8" chain still dragged so I motored forward and set a second, claw type anchor on 20" of 3/8 chain and about 60" of 3/4" nylon rode. And went back to my TV watching.

This morning I retrieved both anchors, the claw with the 3/4" nylon rode using the capstan on the electric winch. Having, and knowing I have it to readily retrieve ground tackle, made the decision to set the second anchor very easy. It's a capability I would not be without.

[Benz]

Would not give up my manual windlass, after retrieving my anchor hundreds of times in hundreds of anchorages. I have the cheapest sort--a Lofran's Royal, but my youngest child (now 11) can operate the capstan bar and pull up the chain with ease. Needless to say, I can too.

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by Benz

Would not give up my manual windlass, after retrieving my anchor hundreds of times in hundreds of anchorages. I have the cheapest sort--a Lofran's Royal, but my youngest child (now 11) can operate the capstan bar and pull up the chain with ease. Needless to say, I can too.

That’s what I have. Every ten years (or less) it pays to disassemble, degrease, lube, and reassemble.

[seandepagnier]

Originally Posted by gjordan

... It was a big help, since I started with all chain and no windlass. It worked very well with 2 people working in coordination, but I would not want to do it single handed. It did get real dodgy when pulling the hook in a deep anchorage, since there was a lot of time between the anchor breaking loose, and getting it secure in the roller. I clearly remember one time pulling the hook in a windy, deep anchorage, and

I suggest you try raising the mainsail before the anchor to take all the slack off the chain as well as maintain control while raising the anchor to roller.

Originally Posted by Stonefloat

As many here have stated the pros and cons of a manual windlass, the one quote that struck me the best was "you always lay more chain with electric". As much as I loved the "simple" operation of our old bronze sl500...it was just too darn slow rate of retrieval .Many times we either had to re-anchor several times or

I don't have a windlass or engine and I can say I'm one of the fastest cruising boats for both deploying and retrieving anchor. I can manually pull it faster than almost any windlass I have seen.

There are several different techniques for retrieving anchor depending on the conditions, and using these you should never have to pull much more than the weight of the anchor and chain. For this reason with all chain 3/8 and 25# I do not consider a windlass very useful.

If the anchor were 45# or more and a heavier boat I would be interested in a pedal powered windlass, the bike speeds would be very useful to give both speed and power. If desired you could attach an electric motor to this and it would far outperform existing windlasses on both speed, power and efficiency.