2 Anchors 1 Windlass?

[sailing_gal]

It was just a quote that was posted.

[BHI_Guy]

I agree with Sailing_Gal - what can go wrong, will eventually go wrong. I have the same set-up - primary anchor on the windlass, and secondary CQR on 40 foot of chain and then 200 feet of rope. The secondary is a bit of a nuisance right now, because the rode is in a bag - need to divide my chain locker...a winter project....but I digress.

[farm sail]

Yes I can and as I stated I have been manually raising my anchor but as a single hander trying to sail off the anchor worrying about getting the anchor up getting underway without falling on to the beach having a windlass would be a real nice touch and if I'm going to invest in a windlass maybe I'll spend a little extra so I can handle two anchors. And if that is not enough for you I was already 30 percent disabled in my right arm and 31 days ago I suffered A debilitating injury to my left shoulder of which i will hopefully recover but for right now I can't pull any anchor by hand.


And for the dude that thinks I'm larry pardy thanks for the compliment but it's just a quote with proper credit

And most importantly for those of you that provided information and suggestions without criticizing me I greatly appreciate it thank you

[BHI_Guy]

Hope my comment was not taken as criticism - that was not my intent. Having hauled up lots of anchors by hand, I would love to have the ability to feed the secondary to an electric windlass, but unless I replace my existing windlass I ain't going to get it. I also agree that putting out a secondary makes all kinds of sense. Good luck with finding a windlass that works for you.

[UNCIVILIZED]

Something like this would probably work out well for you. Maxwell VW Series VW1000 Vertical Windlass

Aside from the features that you say you're looking for, this one lets you mount it independent from where your chain pipe(s) are, if you so choose. So that you get a bit more flexibility in terms of placement, as well as alignment.

That, & for most all Maxwells, you can get remotes... AND, they've been gracing the bows of all manner of cruising boat, including high end marques, for decades. So, knock on wood, they're a reliable product. As well as both being modular, easy to work on, & to get spares for.

BTW, there's naught at all wrong with having a powered windlass on a 30'er. Not that it should be your SOP, but it's nice to have the capability to pull your boat up to the anchor, against a knot or three of current, or a moderate headwind. Especially if you're busy juggling other chores, like getting your sails sorted, or any other of a dozen things that you need to do when leaving an anchorage. Especially when solo.

Go with 1/4" HT chain, & call it good. And on your other anchors, if you like, you can splice the rope rode directly onto the chain leader so that you can have the gypsy haul the whole thing up, in a fully hands free operation... From the foredeck, or, with a remote, from the mast or helm.

BTW, there's no shame in needing a windlass due to old injuries, or no longer being 25. I've got a few dings & scars myself, & a good windlass lets you save, say, your back, for other, more important things.
There's little point in starting the day, or a passage, with wrenched muscles.

[FamilyVan]

Originally Posted by FamilyVan

Checked your profile. 29' boat? I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it, you can hand bomb an anchor with fibre on a boat that size.

A horizontal windlas will work just fine. Most will have a gypsy to port to handle your chain and a drum to starboard to handle your fibre.

When retrieving, use a snotter on the chain, heave about a foot of chain, fashion a snotter using nylon line and a rolling hitch, attach it to a bow cleat and the chain, then pay until taught. Remove the chain from the gypsy. Heave on the drum to weigh the starboard (fibre) anchor.

Remove fibre from drum, place chain on gypsy and heave.

I have a 24000 lb 35' with 3 anchors (port chain, stbd fibre and kedge fibre) with a manual horizontal windlas. I handle the forward anchors on the windlas, but for my little kedge, I just use my Genoa Winch.



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This wasn't intended as criticism, I was attempting to illustrate you won't need a fancy peace of equipment to handle two anchors on a boat that size. The intent was to save you money.

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[duefocena]

I think that was just a quote from Larry Pardey.

[wrwakefield]

Originally Posted by farm sail

I want to have 2 complete anchors with rode on the bow ready for deployment is there a simple way I can manage both with one windlass or will I need to install a second windlass?

How do you manage retrieval of a second anchor off the bow?

Welcome to the forum, Farm Sail.

To accomplish what you inquired about we installed a horizontal windlass with 2 independently operated chain gypsies (and 1 rope capstan) so we could control each anchor separately [and simultaneously if needed... Both are all chain with 550ft between them, each with the last 100ft of 'Hail Mary' 1in nylon 3-strand.]

I will attempt to link a photo, below, and if that fails and/or if you want to know more- including a series of detailed, annotated photos- see our blog post about that project.


Cheers!

Bill

[Bill Balme]

Bill,
I have the exact same windlass albeit with only one chain gypsy and love it - even though it died on me in Finland last year when anchored in 80ft! New motor fixed that - right up until a lightning strike took it out at the end of August :-(
Personally I'm a believer in not using 2 anchors, but instead using one big one! (80lb Manson Supreme) I'd be happy with that lineup in a major blow. I do have a spare anchor - and its a similar size (77lb Spade).
For when I need to reduce swing, I can deploy a Fortress 37 from the stern - though have never needed up to now.

Gus is cute!

[farm sail]

Originally Posted by FamilyVan

This wasn't intended as criticism, I was attempting to illustrate you won't need a fancy peace of equipment to handle two anchors on a boat that size. The intent was to save you money.

Sent from my XP7700 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

If I wanted to cheap out I would have posted in the budget cruisers thread if I didn't have a need I would not have asked the question. I guess I did not realize I needed to defend my reason for wanting to ask a question. it was your choice to infer i did not know what i needed and proceed to tell me what you thought I needed instead. Sounds like a pretty solid definition of criticize. Perhaps in the future for judging and condeming somebody else's decisions you might just answer the question or ask for more information

[Cadence]

A windless on a 29ft. boat is overkill to begin with? I can't even see deploying two anchors other than " maybe bow and stern ". But I am having a hard time figuring out how to feed the stern anchor rode to the windless. Lets see two anchors off the bow with chain a windless and battery. I can see having an anchor and a lunch hook and maybe a backup stowed below?

[farm sail]

Originally Posted by Cadence

A windless on a 29ft. boat is overkill to begin with? I can't even see deploying two anchors other than " maybe bow and stern ". But I am having a hard time figuring out how to feed the stern anchor rode to the windless. Lets see two anchors off the bow with chain a windless and battery. I can see having an anchor and a lunch hook and maybe a backup stowed below?

So far all the anchoring research I have done has yet to indicate 1 anchor style that will be the perfect anchor in all anchoring conditions/bottom types. As a single handed disabled almost engineless sailor having the ability to have self tending of my anchor lines presents a major mess of line/chain on the bow at a time when I'm trying to juggle multiple activities and get underway under sail.


As it stands right now prior to my recent injury in order to safely get underway I have to pull all my bedding out from the V-birth open the forward hatch pull the anchor dropping the line/chain so that it's out of the way and then run back and and get control of the boat before I wash up on the rocks. Gee now that I think about it with what you said I don't see any reason that a powered anchor windlass would make my sailing any easier safer or more enjoyable while out on the water. What was i thinking

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by farm sail

So far all the anchoring research I have done has yet to indicate 1 anchor style that will be the perfect anchor in all anchoring conditions/bottom types. As a single handed disabled almost engineless sailor having the ability to have self tending of my anchor lines presents a major mess of line/chain on the bow at a time when I'm trying to juggle multiple activities and get underway under sail.


As it stands right now prior to my recent injury in order to safely get underway I have to pull all my bedding out from the V-birth open the forward hatch pull the anchor dropping the line/chain so that it's out of the way and then run back and and get control of the boat before I wash up on the rocks. Gee now that I think about it with what you said I don't see any reason that a powered anchor windlass would make my sailing any easier safer or more enjoyable while out on the water. What was i thinking

If I missed you saying you are disabled. I'm sorry. I'm older than dirt and would need one but that would be a nit. However two anchors seems like overkill.

[Bill Balme]

Calm water prevail... ;-)

Farm Sail, in view of your mobility issues, it certainly seems to make sense to get a windlass. The option of having a remote control or a helm switch would seem to be the right way to go for you. Whatever windlass you get, you should probably explore how well they manage the transition between chain and rope in your mixed rode... The Lighthouse windlass that Bill and I have does manage the transition, but I wouldn't say it does it desperately well such that I'd be comfortable going through the transition while standing at the helm (mind you, that probably more to do with the splice than it is to do with the windlass...).

With the advent of the new generation anchors, I think many of the problems of an anchor not working in all conditions has largely gone away - I'd recommend opting for a Spade, a Rocna or a Manson supreme and using an anchor that is at least one size bigger than specified... Do you anchor in a wide variety of bottoms that give you pause about relying on one anchor type?

[guyrj33]

Farm Sail;
Perhaps if you told us more about your sailing area, experience and your boat we could offer more focused advice.

I sail a 33' Pearson 10M in Massachusetts bay north of Boston. Have never anchored off a lee shore and have only used two anchors a handful of times in the 29 years I've been sailing our boat.
We did have a mooring in an area that had significant onshore wind at times, during those times I chose to motor off of the mooring for safety reasons.
Once when our anchor snagged a clump of lobster traps I had to use the genoa winch to raise the anchor to the point where I could untangle it.