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alaskanviking · 19-10-2017, 15:41

Hi,

I need a little help and advice with regards to mounting gear to the deck.

Currently I am finishing up the replacement of my anchor windlass, on my 1984 42' passport pilothouse cutter. I had a old 12v nillsson windlass, but I converted to 24v, and ended up buying a Maxwell RC10. so far so good I verified my chain angle and ended up putting the windlass on a 3/4" G10 raised pad, that is larger than the windlass. underneath I epoxied a very large 1" thick G10 backing pad. I finished up painting the last coat with brightsides yesterday.

now I am looking forward towards the chain stoppers, and the foot switches. the area the old windlass was mounted to was already proud of the deck. with the 3/4" pad that raises the windlass ~ 1" off the teak deck. the boat is a Stan Huntingsford design and the chain plates, stations ect are already raised on mounting pads, I believe to prevent water from pooling on the metal. as the bow will see more water I am thinking this would be beneficial. I was already intending to purchase a heavy duty lever chain stop and put that on a pad so that its inline with the chain.

now I am looking at the foot switches and any eyebolts or pad eyes used for snubbers. the old foot switch was pretty corroded, and I am torn between raising these up on a bedded pad to reduce pooled water and prevent them from getting corroded somewhat. this will also create a toe stubbing protrusion. if I did this I was thinking 1/4" or 3/8" G10 rounded at the upper corner and painted white with brightsides. this would have to be bedded on top of the teak deck, unless I route out the teak to the fiberglass and epoxy the pad in place. likewise I am looking to do the same to the lever chain stop, and was thinking of adding a couple of eyebolts for snubbers. I imagine the deck switch pads would be ~3"-5" in diameter (haven't measured the switch, but essentially 1-1 1/2" larger in diameter than the switch), and a eyebolt pad would be ~ 2"-3".

I have a tendency to overbuild and spent more time and money than is necessary on these kind of projects, But I want to do them right as well. while wear and tear on an ocean boat is expected, I don't want to continuously have to replace or re-bed equipment every couple of years, because I didn't do something.

should I raise these items on pads or just say skrew it and bed them right through the teak deck without a pad?

thank you for all your help

V/R

Robert

Benz · 20-10-2017, 16:31

If the whole point of flush foot switches is to avoid toe-stubbers, then raising them would defeat that purpose. They are designed to sit on a wet deck, and aren't prone to damaging crevice corrosion like chainplates are.

alaskanviking · 20-10-2017, 19:55

On the old switch It looks like it wasn't sealed well and over the years water corroded the contacts. They were still tight and looked like they were conducting but there was corrosion. When I used it it felt the internal contacts were intermittent and it would take a little bit of maneuvering till you hit the sweet spot and it worked.

I don't know if that was the original switch, or if one of the PO's changed it out. And it was old this is a 1984 boat. The wiring for the old windlass was a nightmare. So those problems could have come from any one of those things

The new switches appear to be the same switch with the cover, but I haven't ordered them yet. May look at other options if the hole is the same size.

The thinking on the pads was to possibly prevent any future issues with water. I am redoing the electrical, with new wire. Trying to cover all my bases so I don't have to continually do this.

**GordMay** · 21-10-2017, 06:31

I' a great fan of "housekeeping pads" for any deck mounting/penetration applications. Prefer them to be factory molded-in, over surface mounted.

UNCIVILIZED · 21-10-2017, 07:50

This thread on chain stoppers (& mounting them) is a good one to read. Albeit I think I go into rant mode a couple of times in it. Though the info's still quite valid.
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ns-164988.html

Mike Banks · 21-10-2017, 15:36

The more you raise the windlass above deck--the more leverage the winch exerts over the deck itself. This means the heavier must be the mountings and the more extensive they need to be. I think there is more problems in raising the windlass than using a slightly larger diameter anchor roller.

By the way--if you use a kellet (angel) you may get away with a less weighty anchor--and thereby solve some of your problems. I use a 60 lb Manson with a 20kg kellet and have never moved when at anchor. Makes for restful sleep.

I do not use a chain stopper to hold an anchor chain when at anchor. I only use it, if it is there at all, once the anchor is at rest in its lodgement, preventuing its accidental deployment while the windlass capstan is in use for hauling ropes etc. Once the anchor is aboard it is just as easily secured with a lanyard to a ring bolt or cleat..less damaging to the chain and inexpensive.

For securing the chain (I prefer an all chain rode for shallow anchorages) I use a nylon snubber sheathed in flexible PVC to avoid chafe and fastened to heavy duty heavily backed deck cleats mounted either side of the bow. The snubber fastens to a spliced-loop bridle through-hitched over these cleats to spread the shock load. If one end comes adrift for any reason the other may still hold. The other end is a chain-hook which slides onto the links. So far it has never slipped.

The windlass is only for lifting the anchor and the snubber takes the strain of any surges and transmits the strain to the hull and deck through the heavy deck cleats, which can also in a streel boat be bedded on a plate welded to the deck shelf. They can never be too strongly mounted.. If one ever needs to tow another vessel--one need not be concerned about the strength of the deck cleats on the bow or stern quarter. They will always be adequate if properly mounted in the first place.

The windlass needs to be mounted as far aft as is practical with regards to chain stowage and sail handling in the bow. Anchor, windlass and chain locker are heavy. The further aft they are, the longer is the length of chain on deck--and the easier it is to work on it, but the more of a hazard it becomes to those working sails. A hawse or spurling pipe solves this problem in larger vessels. Perhaps something to consider..

The further aft all of that weight is, the more hull buoyancy there is to support it, and the easier it is to trim the vessel. It is far easier tio add a bit of weight to the bow of a vessel using tankage ior ballast than it is to get rid of it if the vessel turns out to be bow-heavy.

All of this is stating the obvious--but sometimes back to basics when making important decisions is not a bad ploy.