Helia 44: Anchor and Windlass

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by StarryHorizons

Thanks for all the helpful replies. We've left the marina and are back at anchor for the time being so I'm going to hold off on this project for a bit.

I did hear back from the QuickUSA technical support and he basically advised exactly what everyone is saying. It will just need quite a bit of patience and persuasion to come free.

He did also mention that the proper way for the sensor to be wired would be to have it run through one of the spare holes in the gearbox flange. If the holes don't align, he said a hole could be drilled. So perhaps for those of you with windlasses that aren't yet stuck in place, it may be worth removing the gearbox and fixing this so you don't risk a premature sensor failure.

Dave,

If the Lap Sensor looks like the one in this picture from the Quick Chain Counter CHC1202M manual.

Then it may be possible to just measure the diameter of new sensor you have and use that size drill to drill out the OLD sensor from the top.

If you drill through both the top flange, deck and bottom flange, then you should be able to just slide in the new sensor from the top of the windlass.

Not much to loose at this point, since you know the old sensor is bad.
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[Heliades]

Mantus Anchor Size Recommendation for Helia?


Looks like the Mantus size chart puts the Helia at a 65 or 85 lbs range. My sailing will be Caribbean for the first five years. I appreciate that bigger is always better but 20 lbs additional weight is not insignificant. Did any Mantus owners go for the 65#?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by cncarstens

Mantus Anchor Size Recommendation for Helia?


Looks like the Mantus size chart puts the Helia at a 65 or 85 lbs range. My sailing will be Caribbean for the first five years. I appreciate that bigger is always better but 20 lbs additional weight is not insignificant. Did any Mantus owners go for the 65#?

My recommendation would be to go with the Mantus 85 Lbs. (39 kg) for the Helia 44.

A 65 Lbs. Mantus will work fine.

The 85 Lbs Mantus anchor is the largest that will fit without the shank hitting the windlass.

The key to keeping down the weight in the bow is to buy the boat with 3/8" HT chain as the boat comes standard with 1/2" BBB.

The 3/8" HT chain is stronger and lighter than the 1/2" BBB factory chain.

If your buying a used Helia 44, then swap that 1/2" BBB as fast as you can and that will save hundreds of pounds in bow weight.

The Windlass Gypsy will also have to be swapped out in order to use 3/8" HT chain.
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[StarryHorizons]

I must admit that I had a mental lapse (I blame it on trying to tackle a project after 30+ hours of travel) but seeing Cotemar's suggestion to just drill out the old sensor from above lit the proverbial light bulb. And since Quick themselves told me it was alright to drill through the base in order to get a cleaner wire run for the sensor, I figured why not?

The windlass itself is easy to take off and I used a 3/8" drill bit which was the exact size needed to drill out the entire old plastic sleeve for the sensor.





With the hole drilled it was time to tackle replacing the magnet in the gypsy. The old one had rusted out so I used my dremel to clean out the remaining junk.



You're supposed to use a 2 part epoxy to secure the magnet but before I did this, I wanted to confirm that it didn't make a difference which way the magnet was installed. I took a multimeter and checked the continuity of the sensor when both sides of the magnet was present. Fortunately, both sides worked so I didn't need to worry.

However, when doing a test run of the magnet into the gypsy I discovered that the magnet sat flush with the edge. I wanted the magnet to be a bit inset so a layer of epoxy would provide a bit of protection. Solution? Drill out the hole a bit more.



Next I whipped up a small batch of epoxy and secured the magnet. I let this dry for almost 24 hours to make sure it was good and cured before sanding it down, making it nice and aligned with the edge of the gypsy.



Now it was back to the windlass to get the sensor in place. After cleaning up the windlass, I did one wrap of electrical tape around the sensor. This made it fit nice and snug in the plastic sleeve, but didn't affect the function of the sensor (I checked!) and would let me remove it later if needed. Around the plastic sleeve, I put some more epoxy and slid it into the drilled out hole.



At this point, I stopped for the day to let everything cure. The next day, I tackled the wiring. Blue to Black and Brown to Red. I held my breath as I ran the Sensor Status test on the chain counter display at the helm (found under the Utilities menu). Success!





I finished up all the wiring connections, making sure everything was nice and heat shrinked and tucked up away where nothing could tug on the sensor wiring.



Since the windlass was already taken apart, I took the opportunity while putting it back together to give it a good greasing. It runs nice and smooth!



And finally, it was time for the real test: lowering the anchor. Since I had constantly tested each part of the process, I felt fairly confident, but I'll still admit to a few whoops of joy when the chain counter actually fulfilled its stated purpose again!

[Cotemar]

Helia 44 Owners,

Raising the anchor without the power windlass can be done by attaching the black plastic disk with the 3 provided allen cap screws.

The black plastic disk and cap screw should be stored in with your factory spares.

With a winch handle you can unscrew the large top rope drum.

Attach the black plastic disk with the three M5x16 cap screws provided.

Now you can crank around a winch handle and raise your anchor if your windlass is not working.

This is not very well documented in the user’s manual. I tried it myself and it seems to work ok for and emergency situation.
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[Cotemar]

Helia 44 Owners,

From a previous post, I showed how we installed some 12" bow cleats.

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ml#post2238195

They are working well. Here is a few pictures to show how she sits on a mooring.
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[Rubikoop]

Do you attach blocks for spinnaker sheets right to the cleats?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by Rubikoop

Do you attach blocks for spinnaker sheets right to the cleats?

You can use a Soft Shackles to attach the block to the bow cleat

[PapaLulu]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

You can use a Soft Shackles to attach the block to the bow cleat

Thanks! We've been planning to do the same on our Helia. Any reason you didn't choose the smaller but matching OEM aluminum cleats? Also, is that a Mantus anchor swivel? If so, did you require any mod to the hawse opening?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by PapaLulu

Thanks! We've been planning to do the same on our Helia. Any reason you didn't choose the smaller but matching OEM aluminum cleats? Also, is that a Mantus anchor swivel? If so, did you require any mod to the hawse opening?

We have a Helia 44 Evo and all the cleats are now Stainless Steel from the factory, so we purchased SS bow cleats to match the factory ones.

We do not have a Mantus Anchor Swivel. We just use the high end Crosby 209A shackle to connect the anchor to chain.
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[PapaLulu]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

We have a Helia 44 Evo and all the cleats are now Stainless Steel from the factory, so we purchased SS bow cleats to match the factory ones.



We do not have a Mantus Anchor Swivel. We just use the high end Crosby 209A shackle to connect the anchor to chain.

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What did you use as a backing plate? We're considering faired 1/2" G10 and a matching metal plate.

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by PapaLulu

What did you use as a backing plate? We're considering faired 1/2" G10 and a matching metal plate.

We used backing plates made from AL 6061 aluminum 3/8” thick x 8” Long x 4” Wide.

The backing plates were purchased from Online metals for $11 each.

They are bedded from below with Marine-Tex epoxy.
They are bedded from the top with clear Boat Life LifeSeal
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