Using jib sheet winches for an anchor windlass
I've got 60' of chain to retrieve.
I have one chain hook with 30' of nylon on it, I could make up a second and try that.
Bob,
The chain hook's a lot easier to "hank on" to the chain than the end of a separate line. As long as you're comfortable it'll hold. It may be easier to simply tie your line that you plan to bring aft to a link of the anchor chain. All you really need is about a 30 foot long 3/8" line, a line you can dedicate to this or use for other purposes, too; heck, an old long dock line would do just fine.
It also may be better for your deck to bring as much chain up as you can by hand and stow it in the anchor locker first, to minimize the amount of chain being dragged back. As I pictured, I use the jib fairlead blocks because of the curve in our deck and it improves/maintains the lead to the jib sheet winch. (We have two jib fairlead blocks, plus a turning block aft, only use the two on the track for these de-anchoring purposes.)
Many will say "don't do this," but it is an option if used rarely. If you feel you want or need a winch at the bow for
regular use, then consider one. I also wouldn't want to do this all the time either, because it's time consuming, and quite frankly, a royal pain.
My experience is that the use of the "windlass" is more for getting the hook out of a nasty bottom that it is for raising the weight which under normal circumstances could be done by hand. There's usually a pretty short length of rode (regardless of material) that is necessary to disengage before manual retrieval can be used again.
Those with bow windlasses of both manual and electric types seem to use the windlass from A to Z, where this technique would be more like from K to M. Manual bow windlass folks may also use theirs in this "range."
Added 10/4: Also, using the engine and/or your boat to break out a stuck anchor seems a lot easier than buying and installing any kind of windlass, as noted by Maine Sail, below. The link I provided to my anchoring antics "off the shelf" did just that as a weird example.
We're also talking here about 1/4" to 5/16" chain. My experiences with anything bigger, 3/8" and up, is that a windlass becomes a necessity rather than a luxury. So many folks have 3/8" chain on 22# anchors, and for the life of me I don't understand how they've sized their anchoring systems - the chain is way overkill for the anchor size, or the anchor is undersized for the intended system use.
higgs -- maybe you misunderstood the concept: you don't bring the anchor line or chain itself aft. You tie a separate line, which you can easily reeve through the jib fairleads, to the anchor line (rode with a rolling hitch) or chain (with a chain hook or simple knot through a chain link).
