One Last Question on Windlasses ..........

[Ralph Johnstone]

.................. and then I lay down my money, so help me :cussing:. Actually two questions (I lied).

1. What is the experience of those using combined rope/chain gypsies ? Does your nylon anchor line get chewed up as it passes through those sharp little teeth ?

2. Can you use any three strand nylon line or do you require a "special" (double the price) type of line ?

Thanks as always.

 

[cbsura]

1. As long as the rode keeps moving while the gypsy is turning there is no chewing or fraying.

2. My 3 strand rode often slipped, though, when the wet line was being retrieved. It works much better now that i switched to an 8 plait rode. As an added advantage, the line does not kink and stores better in the anchor locker.

 

[Rich Stidger]

I originally had chain with spliced rode. For my gypsy the rode had to be 7/16" or 9/16" - I can't remember which size was needed. It was standard three-strand nylon.

However I had such an inconvenient problem with the line slipping and jumping out of the gypsy, that I converted after one year to all chain. With your 31' boat you may not want to suffer the additional weight in the bow for all chain. If you keep a bit of tension on the rode as you power it in, the slipping is minimized or eliminated. However, the best practice is to use the windlass to just haul up the chain, rode, and anchor. Keeping tension on the rode means that you will be pulling the boat forward somewhat as you pick up the rode.

 

[Florida sail]

I second the use of 8 plait. When i used the three strand I found that there was considerable slip. Now with the 8 plait there is no slip at all using the same size line. I have a Maxwell CR-8. As an aside, the Maxwell people are great to work with.
Their tech support is outstanding.

>>ron<<

 

[Claude L.-Auger]

I have a Lewmar Horizontal 1000 with 75' of Grade 4 chain (5/16) spliced to 5/8 3-strand nylon rode. The only slipping I get on the nylon rode is when it is not engaged properly, i.e. loose. No slipping at all when retrieving.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Thanks to all for your invaluable experiences. My back will definitely benefit from this knowledge.

My wallet ? ? ? ? ................... that's a whole other story.