Helia 44: Anchor and Windlass

[Helia 44]

Originally Posted by StarryHorizons

Just a quick follow up to my last post. Our Helia has a Quick "Dylan" windlass and I discovered that the 5/16" gypsy given to me by our dealer doesn't actually fit our model of windlass. And in fact, Quick does not make a 5/16" gypsy for their Dylan models. The smallest is 3/8".

So we are revising our plans and going with 3/8" (10mm) chain. This chain should weigh about half of the 1/2" chain and I'm hoping will still help the piling up issues under the windlass.

Yes it does. I have 10 mm HT, and a new kind of "Armagal" coating. It is 10 (3/8) and it has jamb-stacked by freak only once per about 50 hauls. I am running a 73# Rocna as my primary, and 300' of 10mm. I put on the bridle and set the hook, which digs immediately in sand or gravel or mud. Only problem is sometimes it will bring up a 20 kg clump of mud... heh he, and I have to motor off with it just hitting the water to clear it.. In my experience of 40 years, 5/16 would have been a serious mistake, where 3/8" is a proven standard and quite adequate. 1/2" was silly, probably a purchasing glitch by F/P for $$ reasons. I have only had one 19 Ton Cutter that needed that 1/2".. Really 10 mm HT Armagal suits the Helia perfectly and the Gypsy is available for good reasons. The weight also allows length, for anchoring outside the circus in deeper water with adequate scope.

Of possible interest: My anchoring techniques of monohulls, was open to modification in my conversion to Cats, but in a year of practice it has stayed the same with primed and painted 10 mm markers: 3 to 1 in calm weather, 5 to 1 in modest windy, 7 to one in stormy weather, 10 to one in survival + the second hook is 100 M of 3/4" nylon and boat length of chain on CobraII 25 kg Plow.. (I would motor up and drop it in the rare extremes, but have never put it out yet)..

Helia 44 "AVALON"

[onthehook17]

Has anyone investigated the process of raising the anchor if your windlass failed. On our Helia hull #4 with a Lofrans Cayman windlass the manual handle cannot be engaged onto the gypsy "teeth" due to interference with the fiberglass edge of the hatch. I don't even think I could loosen and remove the gypsy due to the inability to use the manual handle.
I certainly know I cannot heave 40 feet of chain and a 40 kg anchor off the bottom by hand.
Any suggestions?

[Cotemar]

Helia 44 owners,

The factory anchor was a 20kg (44 Lbs) Delta plow with another smaller one as a secondary anchor.

We remove them and installed a new Rocna 33kg (73 Lbs)

Will have to change out the 1/2 inch factory chain and 1/2 inch gypsy for 3/8 inch.

Not sure why the factory is using 1/2 inch chain, but anyone getting ready to sign for a new boat may want to put in there contract that they want 3/8 Chain to save yourself some time and money swapping this heavy 1/2 inch chain out.

[Cotemar]

Helia 44 owners,

Installed our secondary anchor which is a Fortress FX37 which weighs 21 Lbs
We set it up so we can load and launch it from our dinghy
In the orange 5 gal bucket is 45 feet of 5/16 inch G4 chain
150 feet of 5/8 inch 8 strand plait rope
7/16 inch G-209A high tensile shackle
For a total bucket weight of 65 Lbs

[Helia 44]

Yeh, Cotemar,

Congratulations!!! You have moved up to the 'Real Thing'... Yacht and Anchor, good for you...

100 Islands later, in all holding ground, rock, sand, mud, coral, the Rockna is just right at that size.. I chose it also, thinking if it was wedged in rocks too deep to snorkel to, I could take a big hook and run onto the hoop on top to pull it out..

For sure on the 3/8 chain as well, nice to have the extra length of rode, and not have it stack badly like the 1/2" does. I have the original hook as my spare.

Also, up to the Fortress. About 35 years ago I rescued two of those big Aluminium Danforths off a wreck I was salvaging. I kept one, easy to store and MASSIVE holding power in sand. I figure in that size it is equal to about a 60-80 Danforth if you have enough chain on it, so to both. Good move..

And Congratulations on the Helia 44, going on third year of mine 2013 now, and I have STILL not see a bigger or better living conditions Cat that compares to the Helia. Some faster, but half the liveability. The Helia really outperforms its looks, I mean really! Raced mine... Cruised mine, you have done well and are on track!! Some of the improvements I did to mine, in that Topic "Improvements to the Helia 44" you might find useful, particularly the bumpers on the mains sail track and the added ventilation portholes in the main salon.. amongst others...

Helia 44 "AVALON" Great Barrier Reef in my back yard, living in Mooloolaba Harbour........

[Cotemar]

Helia 44 owners,

A Friend of ours let us borrow his mooring that he has set up for his 42 foot catamaran.
We had never seen this kind of mooring bridal before and we really liked it.

Here’s all the info and pictures for anyone interested.

Defender carries both the large Suncor and Wichard Asymmetric Carbine Hooks.

They go under two different names Spring Snap Hook or Carbine Hook.
You want the ones with the highest Working Load Limit (WLL)

http://www.defender.com/category.jsp?path=-1|2259973&id=2260015&start=11&results=10&sort=prod ucts

[StarryHorizons]

That's a very interesting mooring bridle set up. How do you connect it to the mooring ball? More carbine hooks?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by StarryHorizons

That's a very interesting mooring bridle set up. How do you connect it to the mooring ball? More carbine hooks?

It has standard rope splicing to the mooring ball.
Just used carbine hooks to the bridal eyes.

[Cotemar]

Helia 44 owners,

1) Its hard stepping into the anchor locker because of the thin locker divider in the center of the locker.

2) Built a nice step to stand on and added black non-skid.

3) Added a winch handle holder and winch handle to the locker

[jbinbi]

Originally Posted by StarryHorizons

That's a very interesting mooring bridle set up. How do you connect it to the mooring ball? More carbine hooks?

Are you saying that clip rated at 2k all is good to hold the boat to the mooring in a blow of say 50kts? And what about metal to metal ,clip to hook abrasion?

I was curious about using my bridle attachment, but instead just use the loops on the pendant on the cleats on the bow.

Sent from my YOGA Tablet 2-1050F using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Cotemar]

Helia 44 Anchor / Bridal Snubber,

We wanted a bit more stretch in the anchor bridal.
In high wind and waves the factory anchor bridal is not stretching, because it’s made from 39 feet of 5/8” dia. double braid nylon.

We made a new one out of 43 feet of 5/8” dia. three strand line and 22-1/4" long Falcon rubber mooring snubbers to prevent snatch loads (wind gusts) from tugging on the anchor.

We used a figure 8 knot at the Y just as the factory bridal and used water bowline knots at the attachment points.

Added a piece of 40 inch long x 1-1/4 inside diameter clear hose as chafe guard.

We purchased 43 feet of black 5/8 three strand line and two Falcon LLM3 rubber mooring snubbers.

Have used this same anchor bridal / snubber system for years on our other catamaran and it eliminated any snatch loads from wind gusts and she rides the anchor so much smoother.

Falcon Line-Master Mooring Snubbers stretch to more than twice their length, if necessary, to absorb shock loads and protect boat from the strain of winds and waves. In effect these snubbers make your bridal longer in adverse conditions.

This Helia 44 Anchor / Bridal Snubber is easy to make if you remove the factory bridal and use it as a template for your new bridal.

[Cotemar]

Helia 44 owners

Trying to make our anchor chain last as long as possible, but the original factory setup has the chain dragging on a stainless steel bar. You can hear the galvanized layer grinding off when you use it.

Replaced the stainless steel bar with a heavy duty nylon roller
http://www.marinepartdepot.com/spro3wistbr8.html

Made a 8-1/4” wide X 5” long X 1” thick plate to mount from below using the same 2 factory drilled holes.

You can buy this roller from Marine Parts Depot for $19 usd

[Cotemar]

Helia 44 owners,

My wife does the anchoring and asked that I move the Anchor Hand Control from below the anchor locker deck to make it easier to reach.

She likes it much better up on the anchor locker door. Much easier to use now.

[onthehook17]

Just FYI, I would suggest that everyone unbolt their windlass and treat the SS bolts with TefGel or similar. I took off our windlass to make a custom SS plate and found the galvanic corrosion obvious in the photo. The aluminum base of the windlass crumbled as I removed the bolts.
I have tried to treat all dissimilar metal contacts; however, these bolts are out of sight until ...

[Cotemar]

Helia 44 Owners,

A few here have already mentioned that the FP factory 1/2" (13mm) chain is too large and heavy for a Helia 44.
It pyramids and jams every few feet as you bring it up. You have to use a poll to keep knocking the pyramids down before it jams.
It’s not fun and it’s a slow process.

If you’re in the market for a Helia 44, then make sure you specify that you want 3/8” (10mm) G4 High Tensile chain. It’s half the weight and much stronger.

Here are a few pictures to show the pain and suffering of changing out the 1/2" (13mm) for 3/8” (10mm) G4 HT chain.

The 3/8” (10mm) chain is 200 feet and fits into the locker so much better.
The bitter end is spliced to 200 feet of 3/4" inch 8-Plait Nylon Rope Line.