windlass for catalina 30 Mk 1

[tom power]

On my boat on the cradle fiddling around on a sunny winter day in Muskegon, mi. Wondered if anyone has any new info on anchor windlass installation for Catalina 30 Mk 1. Any comments or direction appreciated. Thanks. Tom

 

[Bad Obsession]

There is a post on anchor windlass installation on the Catalina 30 Owners Association.

Personally, I have a 33 pound bruce style anchor with 30' of chain and I don't need one. I use the boat to break the anchor out of the mud and it works fine.

 

[Lost Parent]

I know where you are coming from up here in western Canada on the coast we can anchor in 60to 100 ft of water and that is a lot of line to pull up , Good luck finding one

 

[wise4]

I've seen write-ups here and there... I believe they all required taking some space away from the Vberth (that would be a non-starter for me)... I would build something to replace the locker door if I was going to tackle that project...

We do have to drop in 100+ depths sometimes... With 100ft of chain and a 35lbs anchor, it can be a pretty good workout putting the anchor back on its bow roller.... Good thing we have teenagers Otherwise, I'd move the windless from near the bottom of the todo list to near the top....

 

[Echo Gulf]

I resolved the issue by adding a "semi-bowsprit". We've been using this system for several years now (in the Gulf Islands area) with great success. It handles our 33lb Bruce without diffaculty. The control switch is mounted in the anchor locker. It has held us securely in all conditions, including one memorable night at anchor exposed to 55 knot winds. A key component to note, is the heavy brass brace securing the underside of the bow sprit to the hull.

 

[sunwindsea]

size?

I resolved the issue by adding a "semi-bowsprit". We've been using this system for several years now (in the Gulf Islands area) with great success. It handles our 33lb Bruce without diffaculty. The control switch is mounted in the anchor locker. It has held us securely in all conditions, including one memorable night at anchor exposed to 55 knot winds. A key component to note, is the heavy brass brace securing the underside of the bow sprit to the hull.

Thanks for the excellent design and pictures. For me a windlass is near the top of my list to enable anchoring in tighter spots with less swing using all chain. Can I ask what size and power is your windlass and how much chain you have on it?

 

[Echo Gulf]

It's a Simpson/Lawrence 600, it has about 625 lbs pull. At present, I'm using 30 ft of 5/16 inch BBB chain and 250 ft of 1/2 inch nylon triple braid. As soon as funds become available I'm going to switch to about 250 ft of all chain.

EG

 

[Lost Parent]

Do you think it will handle the weight of all that chain and anchor?

 

[jrowan]

I resolved the issue by adding a "semi-bowsprit". We've been using this system for several years now (in the Gulf Islands area) with great success. It handles our 33lb Bruce without diffaculty. The control switch is mounted in the anchor locker. It has held us securely in all conditions, including one memorable night at anchor exposed to 55 knot winds. A key component to note, is the heavy brass brace securing the underside of the bow sprit to the hull.

Nice setup! I like an improvement that is so well designed that it looks like it belongs there on the bow.

 

[Echo Gulf]

I think it's well within the capacity of the windlass. The worst case scenario would be a straight lift of about 75 feet of chain at 75 lbs and 33 lbs of anchor. To achieve a better scope there may be more chain out, but I can't see us anchoring in deeper than 75 ft.