Windlass is windless

[RicM]

After 6 months of looking over my bent fluke style anchor today I decide to do something about it. It works fine but the asymmetrical look of it is disturbing my "wah". The word on the dock is that Delta style anchors are a better bet for Narragansett Bay bottom, so I stop by the marine consignment store in Wickford, a lovely flea market of old and abandoned stuff. There, in the anchor heap, is a lovely, almost new, 14 lb Delta that still has the stickers on it and doesn't smell too bad at all, and only $78. Such a deal! Get it back to TaT and swap it out figuring that the fluke job can become the spare. Run it down, run it up, CLICK. Click, click, click. Relay is working but windlass, she stops winding. Multi-meter it out and there's plenty o'juice at 14V, the relay is supplying 14V to the motor connections in proper order as activated, click click click. Let's see if the motor needs service/replacement. 3 hours later the windlass is disconnected from the electrics (had to break off the lugs). The almost impossible to reach nuts on the 3 bolts that hold the winch down are off, and the f&%$ing thing still won't come out of the hole in the deck, or more specifically the bowsprit where it joins the deck. Fearless Dave arrives by dingy for a consultation and decides the whole bowsprit should come off (4 more bolts). He takes the trim and bottom panel off the bowsprit and we find the source of the problem and the reason my anchor line never dries out. The flimsy panel that makes up the downward facing surface of the bow sprit is un-caulked and has warpped in such a way that headseas (any other kind in the afternoon in NE?) are going to force their evil way in, slosh aft down the interior of the bowsprint, douse the windlass motor, then settle in the anchor locker. At this stage let me point out that the windlass in question is a strange combo of vertical (motor is vertical and extends down through deck) and horizontal (gypsy is horizontal on deck with the axis running starboard-port). Brand name, Lofrans, model name "Dorado", country of origin, Italy. Rut roh. I don't know about you, but what Italian design means to me is that it will look good, go fast, and break your heart when it's time to service it. The motor looks like it's been in a shipwreck, the casing is badly corroded (flakes of metal come off in my hand). The electric terminals are fused. The motor is corroded to the above decks machinery and will not separate from same. I determine I will have to cut a key out of the deck hole to get the bastard out. The bowsprit is not coming off (liberally caulked with 5200, jumping on the most forward end of the bowsprit does nothing to loosen it with all 4 bolts out, grrrr I HATE 5200!). This thing is not going back in to do the same thing in 5 years. New Lewmar 1000H Profish is in stock at Defender down in CT and only $870 (Such a deal!). They open at 9AM. I'll be there when they open and keep you'all posted...looks like an interesting Friday.

[RobS]

What is the underside pulpit panel made of? I had mine off and I thought it was a plastic panel. It was not caulked but with the metal edge trim installed it was rather water-tight.

I know the 14# delta plow is rated for a 26-31' boat but be sure to keep an eye on it's holding capabilities as I know others have found it will drag. As you know, a long length of chain will surely help. I have the 22# and it grabs very quickly and holds great.

[RobS]

Here is a picture of someone's bow I had grabbed off the net some time ago. They could not have designed it any better to hold water and funnel it into the anchor lockers...

[Pitou]

Ric ... you'll like your new windlass with everything encased and above deck and that ProFish is sw-e-e-e-t! I ditched my Lofrans last spring ... 2nd time I had it out for repair ... fail me once ... okay sent her out to Imtra in New Bedford ... fail me twice .... to the grave yard with ya'! Man-O-Man talk about rusty!

I'm with Rob, I run a 22lb delta and she has never dragged. The thing with the delta is you must have at least 30 ft. of chain or it will drag for sure.

You'll have a busy day .... or two.

[RobS]

Here you can see my windlass, the orange one dangling from the bowrail, it hasn't failed me yet

[RicM]

Rob,

Yes your orange windlass is fool proof, but now that Miss K is used to lifting with a button there ain't no going back. So I hope this is not indicative of the rest of the day. The 2 hour round trip to Defender took me 4 hours because of a tractor trailer crash on 95N. I hope the bastard died.

[RobS]

I hope the bastard died.

Ouch, harsh
May the day get better

[RobS]

An accident and another oil spill..

http://www.theday.com/article/20100625/ ... 29828/1017

[DougSea]

... I hope the bastard died.

Note to self - Do NOT dock right next to Ric and don't upset him...

[RicM]

OK, OK, that was "a bit" harsh, I'll grant you. On the other hand, don't you all sometimes find yourself thinking when you are sitting in a traffic jam, "this better be something REALLY good (bad) to make this all worthwhile?" I mean I never claimed to be a "nice" person at any point in this forum did I? I expect that most folks that have actually met and spent time with me would caution you to stay well away from our slip after 8PM or a non productive fishing trip.
So then there is the overturned truck and it's driver. Was he innocent? Was he driving too fast? Too Long? On drugs? I mean it's Rt 95 at 7:30 in the morning. What was the challenge there? Driving in a straight line in one lane for 90 miles? I mean the truck didn't turn over by itself. It screwed up all transportation in Eastern CT until late this afternoon. If BP is at fault for their accident, then is this driver responsible for his and it's effect on commerce in the SE New England corridor? Is he responsible for me spending 3 hours on a trip what should have been 50 minutes?

Allright I'll stop now, but I'm unwilling to retract my statement until I know more about the situation, and if the #$$hole was drunk or high, then I reserve my right to wish that he died. If so, he risked the lives of hundreds of other people for a buck. Screw him.

[RobS]

oh, and about the windlass....

[jcollins]

oh, and about the windlass....

I was afraid to ask.

[RicM]

Well, since you ask...
I have included pictures of the pulpit apart. The plastic lower panel was not very water tight at all, the caulking job was just an exterior bead where the panel met the upper hull area. It had dried out and failed some time ago. Part of the problem was that the 2 stringers on the pulpit are about 1/2 an inch shorter than the finished pulpit sides, so when they screwed into the stringers through the panel it flexed the panel in a concave manner, and no longer met the bottom of the finished sides at a 90 degree angle.



The view down the Seawater highway, the opening at the end is where the windlass anchor hung...



Dave made some backup panels with ironwood scraps....



We then gooped everything up really good with 4200, including the panel edge all around and the two backup panels.....



and reassembled. Sorry, for some reason my camera got set to B&W for a few pics, but here is the old windlass, pretty funky. I suppose I could have bought a new motor for it but the whole design is offensive to me. Plus it never worked great, always jamming at the wrong moment.



Of course nothing comes close to lining up to re-install the new windlass so I just screwed a piece of Starboard over the hole for the weekend. We will fabricate a starboard plate to go over the whole area this week with the new cutout and bolt pattern. I just hope the wiring is up to the task, I'm going from a 700W to 1000W motor. I believe it's #6 in there now, which is ok if the run is not too long.....

[DougSea]

This just in, secret video of Ric testing his old windlass...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAcfaMDcY68

The truth is out Ric!