Is an electric windlass a necessity when living on the hook solo?

[Souzag818]

Originally Posted by SailingPNW

For single handing I would recommend not just a windlass but one with controls both at the bow and the cockpit, also if possible a chain counter. For single handing I would also recommend a windlass that can be used to drop the anchor in addition to just having it free fall. This of course assumes you will be anchoring in crowded areas sometimes and in conditions that aren't always the best. It's also super hard to see chain markers in the dark.

Currently I anchor a lot single handed, but only have controls at the bow, this makes it exceedingly difficult in the wind since I often have to run back and forth, between dropping the anchor and positioning the boat if there is current or wind. Also with 300 feet of chain and a decent sized spade anchor, I certainly wouldn't want to pull it up by hand.

Most windlasses can also be used manually like a winch so your not completely out if you have a power issue.

Two controls, one on the bow, one in the cockpit. I motor up on my rode slowly while operating the windlass from the cockpit. I painted the last 20' of my chain fluorescent orange so when I see that I go to the bow and bring up the rest with the bow control. Yea, I can't see it in the dark, but I always try to anchor before then. Reverse the process when dropping the anchor. Drop initially from the bow, then let out from the cockpit reversing slowly, till I'm ready to set it. Single hand all the time. My 2 cents...

[SAColes]

You are right to be concerned - and planning the equipment for your yacht is an important initial process. In my last boat 37ft6in heavyweight ferrocement Ocean Cruiser Hartly Golden Cowrie I installed a manual S-L Anchorman vertical axis windlass to cope with up to 80m of 3/8" chain and a 35lb CQR anchor. This proved to be up to the job although raising the anchor single-handed and at the same time safely conning the boat was difficult at times. (18 years cruising including 9 Atlantic crossings, Pacific and Indian Ocean crossing). Present boat (43ft catamaran) has an electric windlass and slightly heavier gear and a longer trip between windlas and helm - but the electric powered windlass is highly appreciated.

[Mr B]

Its all in place and working,
Just need new batterys to run it,
Madam is very happy I installed it,
I can move around now to better places all in the same day,

Cheers, Brian,

[Mr B]

Its all in place and working,
Just need new batterys to run it,
Madam is very happy I installed it,
I can move around now to better places all in the same day,

Cheers, Brian,

[krid2000]

Originally Posted by Icarus

I have a dedicated sepperate cranking battery fwrd near the chain locker which eliminates long runs of expensive heavy cables.

How do you keep it charged?

Dirk

[Briggers]

Originally Posted by DarwinHolmstrom

Also, even though I am extremely fit, i am 57 years old and I hope to be doing this for many more years. I broke my T12 vertebrae in a motorcycle racing crash some years ago and that sometimes bothers me. I imagine that might still be a problem when I'm 70. I suspect I'll appreciate the electric windlass more as the years pass by.

I am 75 with quite sever scoliosis - never a day without pain. I’ve had a boat moored in Croatia since 2007, the first was a Swedish built Puzzle 36 with no anchor winch. I normally anchored rather than use marinas in depths for 3m to 12m, seldom more. I had 50m of 6mm chain so it was only on the odd occasion that the rode was in use. Much of the time I was single handed, getting the anchor up was a pain but manageable.

A couple of years ago I bought a Hunter 430, double the weight of the Puzzle. I now have 100m of 8mm chain and a bigger anchor. Unfortunately the winch is unreliable and haven’t found the fault yet, it’s about 50/50 whether it works or not. Even at 75 I can still haul it up by hand. If it gets too tough, I run a line from the main winch, secure it with a rolling hitch to the chain, winch it in and repeat.

Would I recommend having a power winch? Hell yea, every time, no question but you can live without it.

[Sylph VI]

So it seems, in answer to the OP, "is an electric windlass necessary when single-handed?", the answers vary. Some simply and categorically say yes. Some, generally those who have changed over to an electric windlass, now believe they are. And those of us who stubbornly do things the old way say no, they are not necessary. Clearly this indicates psychology as much as anything else, the way we tend to rationalise the decusions we have already made. However, that aside, there is lots of sound advice here, pros of an electric windlass mainly, and I would suggest, like most things in sailing, no black and white answers.

[DarwinHolmstrom]

Originally Posted by Sylph VI

So it seems, in answer to the OP, "is an electric windlass necessary when single-handed?", the answers vary. Some simply and categorically say yes. Some, generally those who have changed over to an electric windlass, now believe they are. And those of us who stubbornly do things the old way say no, they are not necessary. Clearly this indicates psychology as much as anything else, the way we tend to rationalise the decusions we have already made. However, that aside, there is lots of sound advice here, pros of an electric windlass mainly, and I would suggest, like most things in sailing, no black and white answers.

This question has prompted a very productive conversation. I'm in a position where my boat is in a marina with an extremely trustworthy repair shop and at the moment I can afford to get an electric windlass so I'm going to do that. When I head to the Caribbean next year there's no guarantee that I'll have access to a good shop or the money to do this. Hell, there's no guarantee that money will still be a thing by this time next year, so I'm going to put an electric windlass on my to-do list.

[Souzag818]

Originally Posted by DarwinHolmstrom

This question has prompted a very productive conversation. I'm in a position where my boat is in a marina with an extremely trustworthy repair shop and at the moment I can afford to get an electric windlass so I'm going to do that. When I head to the Caribbean next year there's no guarantee that I'll have access to a good shop or the money to do this. Hell, there's no guarantee that money will still be a thing by this time next year, so I'm going to put an electric windlass on my to-do list.

There's really no guarantee you'll be around next year, period...

[Mr B]

Originally Posted by Souzag818

There's really no guarantee you'll be around next year, period...

This. Hahahahahahaha

[DarwinHolmstrom]

Originally Posted by Souzag818

There's really no guarantee you'll be around next year, period...

I've spent over half a century not worried about not being here next year but I'm still here. I've been hurled through the air on a motorcycle racetrack at 140 miles per hour, i've ridden a motorcycle non-stop from Los Angeles to Suches, Georgia, hell, I grew up working on a farm, which is about as dangerous a job as crab fishing in Alaska. I'm pretty hard to kill.

[Dulls]

Unfortunately age will enforce the electrical side of things. They are fairly reliable as it is only a simple electric motor. Fridges and freezers are the beginning of complexity.