An electric windlass can make life more pleasant for the cruising sailor
For the cruising sailor, anchoring out is a way of life. For the weekend sailor, it's a wonderful way to relax and truly get away from the rat race. Memories of a lifetime are often made when tucked away safely in a secluded anchorage.
If your past anchoring experiences have left you feeling somewhat like the hunchback of Notre-Dame, maybe you're not set up with a system that takes most of the work out of it. The electric windlass might just be the answer to your dreams. It certainly has been so for us.
It only took one nasty storm sweeping through the anchorage at midnight, with boats dragging everywhere, to fully appreciate the true value of our electric windlass. We were able to get out of harm's way quickly, then safely re-anchor within a few short minutes. We then sat back and watched for another hour while many other boats struggled with the very same task we had just performed with minimal effort. Some unfortunate souls wrestled their anchor and chain with only their bare hands, while others cranked, seemingly forever, on their manual windlasses, stopping occasionally to fend off nearby dragging boats.
Anchoring shouldn't be stressful or exerting, but for too many sailors, it very often is so. The reality is that sometimes it's necessary to go through the act of setting the anchor more than once, even without a storm situation in the middle of the night. Maybe you're too close to a neighboring boat, or perhaps the anchor didn't set the first time. Whatever the reason, the fact remains that you have to retrieve that heavy anchor and chain and repeat the whole process again in order to get the anchor set securely.
In our refit of Serengeti, the old manual windlass was one of the first pieces of equipment we replaced with a new electric one. Our experiences have taught us that our windlass is an important piece of safety gear. Knowing how easy it is to retrieve the anchor with an electric windlass not only allows us to move quickly, but also promotes the correct amount of scope. It makes the decision to set an anchor more than once a lot easier to make. It's a conscientious, safe sailor who amends a potential by bad anchoring situation immediately. Without an electric windlass, it is often a tired sailor who decides to "wait and see" if the anchor is O.K.
To the cruising sailor, anchoring is serious business. The boat is your home, and your ground tackle can often be your best insurance. Cruisers value stout ground tackle. This means you're dealing with big, heavy anchors and lots of chain, sometimes several hundred feet of chain. We've got 300 ft. of 3/8-inch chain on our primary anchor, a 60 lb. CQR. To deploy and retrieve this type of ground tackle, one must have a windlass, and an electric one will pay for itself over and over again in functionality and ease of use.
Our main goal when choosing an anchoring system for the boat was to be able to deploy the anchor in a controlled manner, and more importantly, be able to retrieve it quickly, neatly, and safely. It was also very important that we were both able to accomplish this feat. A manual windlass certainly beats having no windlass at all, but still requires a certain amount of physical effort and is by no means as fast as an electric one for getting out of tight situations quickly. The electric windlass takes away that strength advantage men have over women and allows both sexes to deal easily with the anchor. An added safety bonus is that the electric windlass performs just as well if you are exhausted, injured, or otherwise incapacitated. In addition, the power down feature allows you to deploy your anchor at a controlled rate. No more wild, free-falling of the anchor and chain, while you try to jump out of its path.
Dead batteries? The prudent skipper chooses an electric windlass with a manual retrieval feature. This allows you to crank the anchor up manually in event of an electrical malfunction or dead batteries. For Serengeti, we selected the Lofrans Tigres, a well-built windlass with a good reputation.
Like any winch, power or non-power, the electric windlass must be respected and used properly to avoid injury. The area should be kept clear of items on deck that could jam it, loose clothing, and of course, fingers and toes.
In order to get the longest life and continued good performance out of your electric windlass there are certain rules of thumb to follow. The anchor should always be retrieved by taking up the slack on the anchor line/chain using the boat's motor to move forward. Pulling the anchor out using only the windlass is just asking for trouble. The weight of the boat at anchor should never ride directly on the windlass, manual or electric, but rather be snubbed off to a cleat. An electric windlass does require proper wiring to operate correctly and achieve full power potential. This means either running large cable from your existing battery bank to the bow, or adding an additional battery forward to handle the high amperage draw required of most electric windlasses. And finally, like any piece of motorized equipment exposed to the elements, regular maintenance will be necessary to have continued positive results.
There's no question in our minds that our electric windlass adds to our boating safety. It gives us confidence and ability to deal with all anchoring situations quickly and responsibly. But, we have to admit there's also just the pure fun of owning one. Picture this. I'm peering out our porthole and see our friend Russell, working away at raising his anchor and chain with his manual windlass—back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. During his second break, I casually stroll up on deck with a coffee cup in hand and Endicott, the cat, following at my heels. Now at the bow, I release the snubber and press the "up" button. Sue's at the wheel with the boat in gear, following my hand signals to ease the strain from the anchor and chain. Within seconds, our anchor has been completely retrieved, and I haven't spilled a single drop of coffee. "Nice morning!" I call over to Russell as we motor by. He's on break again, wiping sweat from his brow. And his anchor? Still not retrieved.
Article by Sue Holt and Larry Hamilton used by permission of Sailnet.com
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