windlass

[bassnbucks]

Looking for advise on getting a windlass.I know nothing about them.I have a sea hunt ultra 232,no pulpit,and a small anchor locker.Is this a DIY project or one for the professionals.With my new found addiction to tog I think it would be a huge help.
Thanks

[dfish28]

Save yourself some money and get the anchor ball set up and a good wreck anchor: like Chucks... Or make sure you drill out the end of your fluke anchor to do a reverse pull...once you deploy the first time just throw your ball at the end of it, and your set to go, you can even at that point load into a crate or commercial bushel basket and deploy/retrieve from your helm, it's faster cheaper and most times easier than a windlass. Or look into Good brand windlasses if you really want that nut, I'd spend it on fuel for a few more trips to the reef myself. Good luck, itchin for tog myself !!!!!!!

[bassnbucks]

Thanks fish, I have one of chucks anchors.I just checked out the anchor ball on you tube,it does look easy to use.

[Capt. Debbie]

Kind of overkill in calm shallower waters.

Also to answer the question asked. I am not sure a windlass will work without a pulpit or something like it to keep the anchor rode off the boat's gelcoat.

I had a Good windlass and used separate anchor/ball system when offshore throwing 400- 600' of anchor line out tuna or sharking.

For a windlass you want free fall. The other type is way too slow in an emergency.

Some boats have the anchor drop from a factory penetration in the bow below that rubrails. I assume you don't have that?

Originally Posted by dfish28

Save yourself some money and get the anchor ball set up and a good wreck anchor: like Chucks... Or make sure you drill out the end of your fluke anchor to do a reverse pull...once you deploy the first time just throw your ball at the end of it, and your set to go, you can even at that point load into a crate or commercial bushel basket and deploy/retrieve from your helm, it's faster cheaper and most times easier than a windlass. Or look into Good brand windlasses if you really want that nut, I'd spend it on fuel for a few more trips to the reef myself. Good luck, itchin for tog myself !!!!!!!

[Gerry Zagorski]

We did not have a windlass on our old boat but bit the bullet and put one on our current boat. Best money we ever spent and we love to Wreck fish so well worth it for us.

We chose the Good windlass. Good is the brand and they are located here in NJ.. Barnegat I believe. Great customer service and a great product and they have a few features we wanted:

- As Frank mentioned before, it's a free fall windlass so rather than have to hold a switch down and have the windlass pay the anchor line out, it simply releases the anchor and it free falls. It makes it much quicker to set your anchor and a lot of other windlass companies offer this feature.
- In order to be able to operate your Windlass from the helm and not go up on the bow you need to get one that you don't need to cleat off once the anchor is set or stowed on the pulpit. Good is one of the only ones that has this feature. Most others recommend that you cleat the anchor off once it's set, or the tention/pull of the anchor will ruin the gears. Having to go up on the bow and cleat you anchor off is pretty hard and sometimes dangerous in a pitching sea in and express boat. That's what sold us on the Good.

One thing you will need to be sure of before you pull the trigger....Your anchor locker has to have sufficient enough capacity to hold all your line and have enough drop left over. Drop is the distance from windlass to the top of your line once it's all stowed in the locker. If you don't have enough drop your windlass will be prone to jamming. Most windlass companies publish drop specs so make sure and follow them.

You should also use the type of line recommended by the windlass manufacturer. If you don't you will be prone to jams as well. This is the most frequent mistake people make.

You will definitely need some sort of pulpit if you want to use your windlass with out having to go up on the bow. It does 2 things.....When the anchor comes up it keeps the anchor from slamming into your fiberglass and your anchor sits tight in it when not in use.

As far as being a job for professionals or DIY, a lot of that depends on your abilities and your budget. You are going to need to run a dedicated wire from your batteries directly to the windlass, wire in a breaker and helm switch. You are also going to need to figure out where the best place is to mount the windlass and cut a whole there and be sure to treat the fiberglass around the hole to be sure no water can get into it and ruin your deck. I guess we could have figured it out but since we had no experience and Good had done a boat indentical to ours, we left it to the experts and had them install it. They also installed an access door in the cabin so we could access the anchor locker from inside the cabin. This way if the line gets fouled and causes a jam we can clear it from inside the boat.

Here is a post I made when we were deciding on ours http://www.njfishing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55843

We've used the windlass for several months now and it's been flawless. Definately worth it for us and I feel a lot safer now anchoring in sloppy conditions we usually have during tog season. It also makes the decision to relocate to find fish a lot easier since it's safe and effortless to pick it up and drop it again.... For these reasons and as I mentioned above, it's the best investment we've ever made.

[irishc]

Another option to consider is a capstan. I fish by myself occasionally so that made more sense for me. With a capstan you are not limited to a specific length of rope but you need to go to the bow to use it. Either or, they both really save on the back and if your like the rest of us, not getting any younger, I would recommend making the investment! Also, more than once I have hooked a pot line, large pieces of the wreck, misc. gear others have lost, and 99% of the time I have been able to safely get my gear back. That said, whatever you buy, if wreck/bottom fishing, I would not rely on it to pull the hook off the bottom by itself. Use it to pull in the slack, tie the rope off, then use the boat to break the anchor or grapple free. The unit I brought is from a non sponsor. It is a referb for under $300 w/a 1000 lb. deadlift. I installed it myself. snaking the wires and installing the footswitch were a real b***h but the hook up itself was a piece of cake. PM me if you want more information.