removing broken windlass, pulling anchor by hand? 2520

[panga]

Anyone pull their anchor by hand? I know doing it alone wouldnt be easy, but I rarely boat alone. Anyway.. my windlass is busted and I need either to replace it or I was thinking do I really need it. I rarely anchor the boat, and if I do it wouldn't be in deep water normally. If one was to pull by hand some kind of deck hatch would be needed so the rope and chain could still be "threaded" back down into the anchor line compartment, does someone make an aftermarket hatch that could be cut into the anchor davit piece, and opened to feed rope in and out when deploying and pulling anchor, so the anchor can be kept in place all the time on the bow, and easily pulled or dropped. Or am I trying to save a buck, and gonna cause a real pain, an in this case what windlass should I buy


thanks

 

[panga]

Ok so I looked around online, and from what I can tell a anchor hawse is what I need, I would just feed the line back through the hawse to put the rope away, seems like it would be a pain in the ass, like threading 150 feet of thread through a needle point?

this is one hawse I found:

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/1/ ... -pipe.html

 

[Bryan 2530]

Don't use that, get one that has a cap on it so water doesn't enter the anchor locker.

Like this.

http://www.jamestowndistributors.com/us ... +Deck+Pipe

What boat do you have? This is what my deck looks like, works fine without a windlass. I frequently anchor alone in + -30 ft of water with a 0-3 knt current.

 

[Megabyte]

No windlass on my boat either. I pull by hand.

Don't have a close-up of my hawse pipe, but mine is the same type as Bryans.
The only difference being, mine is in the deck directly behind my anchor.
You might be able to get a sense of it in this photo.

 

[coolbreeze]

I just put a windlass on my boat last year . untill then i pulled anchors for years.. nothing to it .. just get you a anchor ball.

 

[panga]

thanks for the help, thats what I was in-visioning, just didn't see that covered part only, I think I will go with the old trusty hand pull, I rarely will drop the hook anyways, that will free up some money for the other projects.

 

[Dan Duda]

Greetings:

Another (inexpensive) option is to use a shackle/float ball for pulling the anchor. With this device, you still have to stow the line by hand, but you are spared the heavy lifting (no pun intended). These are fairly popular here on the Gulf Coast, and can be bought at most marine supply stores.

Regards,

Dan

 

[Porkchunker]

Fixing a windlass is not that hard. Somewhere around here I have a couple of threads about removing mine and replacing two gears in it.

Dave

aka

 

[mildew2]

What type of windlass is it...Personally the windlass is one of the best if not the best additions I have made to my Boat. Even if you don't use it that much it's great just knowing it's there. If you have a working windlass you will find yourself anchoring alot more than you think you would. If you fish reefs or just for pinpointing small productive spots, in shallow or deep water there is nothing better. As porkchunker said, most windlasses can be repaired easily and fairly reasonable. I repaired mine a couple of times
on my 2520 PH over the years. JMO

 

[jeffnick]

A sailboat winch is a great help when pulling by hand. Even without the handle, it holds what you've pulled in while you grab another handful (a one way valve).