Anchor Locker modification

[Bizzy B]

Hi my name is Bill and My wife is Bev we are new to this forum. We have a 2005 MacGregor 26m we use in southern CA. I WAS the captain and her the first mate, life was good. One of the first mates duties was pulling the anchor. On a coastal fishing trip recently
my wife (first mate) was pulling the anchor and about 50 pounds of kelp when a mutiny occurred. Bev is now captain and I of course am first mate, go figure. We use a 15# anchor and about 200Ft of road. Since I am a lazy sailor I would like to ad an anchor windlass but the chain locker seems too small. Has anyone enlarged the chain locker? I know some flotation loss will be inevitable but it looks like it could be done. If any of my fellow sailors have a solution please help. My solution was to bring a bikini clad 2nd mate but as you can guess walking the plank came up. If anyone has set up a windless I sure would like to now how you made it work. Thanks

[Indulgence]

Have a look here, I was thinking about a windlass too.

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... t=windlass

[Divecoz]

An Electric windless is not all that physically heavy, as long as your not changing to all chain. the price may be a bit heavy at $650
and the cable with #4 Marine grade wire as a min. and running about $260 or better yet #2 running about $300 and again the weight shouldn't bother the boat as the weight is divested along the entire length of the boat. Even the possible addition of a new battery is no big deal $85.
IMHO there is no reason why you couldn't build a custom anchor hatch to withstand the stress exerted . I mean if its caught you did something wrong or your just plain SOL without scuba.... You Never use the winch to dislodge a stuck caught trapped .... anchor anyways.
Good luck and Post Pictures of your progress.

[Divecoz]

Have a look here, I was thinking about a windlass too.

http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... t=windlass

Wow!!!! 200 feet of chain is a lot of chain up front. How does that effect the boot stripe? where do you store 200 feet of chain ? have you any pictures of your install?
Oh My...............
http://www.myboatsgear.com/mbg/product.asp?prodID=1608
Bring this in, at around $2000 USD's all said and done...

[waternwaves]

" You Never use the winch to dislodge a stuck caught trapped .... anchor anyways."

say what???


I use my cabin top winches to lift the anchor all the time so I can get out of the anchorage without having to leave the cockpit... 2 Single sheave blocks at the base of the mast....keeps the line off the deck. Get the kind that are pinned so you dont have to leave them attached to the anchor line.....


then scoot where there is more room and haul the last of the anchor line and chain up....


Only problem is when it is really water is really rolly and the line comes off the anchor roller......

[Divecoz]

" You Never use the winch to dislodge a stuck caught trapped .... anchor anyways."

say what???


I use my cabin top winches to lift the anchor all the time so I can get out of the anchorage without having to leave the cockpit... 2 Single sheave blocks at the base of the mast....keeps the line off the deck. Get the kind that are pinned so you dont have to leave them attached to the anchor line.....


then scoot where there is more room and haul the last of the anchor line and chain up....


Only problem is when it is really water is really rolly and the line comes off the anchor roller......

Hey W&W's Long time No see...
But back to my posting. The .... You Never use the winch to dislodge a stuck caught trapped anchor....
You mean to tell me you would attempt to PULL UP your trapped anchor with a winch??
BTW I now have a 24lb(???) Danforth that I got for free........ in 100+ fsw from a guy who tried and failed to winch his stuck.... captured ...anchor and who knows what kind ...if any .. damage his vessel incurred. My reference referred to using that new owner built custom locker cover for the windless base ....

[FLembo18]

Yo Bizzy,

I really like your idea of a "Bikini Clad (2nd mate)", get a 3rd Bikini clad mate too. It'll make walking the plank really worth it and you'll save yourself alot of time, money & work. (Alimony not included)

Frank L.

[tangentair]

This went to major modification for a intermittent problem very quickly. There are a few mods that come to mind regarding the anchor locker, better drainage being the first and securing the end of the rode the second, but it appears that a small problem is looking for a large ($$) solution.
For a stuck anchor - I believe it is best to shorten the rode till it extends straight down and then return to the cockpit and drink a cup of tea while the wave and normal movement of the boat break it free. OR as long as you are careful not to tangle the anchor line in the prop, motor around to the opposite side of the set and in reverse (again to keep lines and props at different ends of the vessel) try and pull it free.
For tangled or fouled anchors, there are two winches available already and if it is a typical problem such as might be found along the west coast, a few blocks or other deck protectors added would be much simplier than a windless, electric or manual.
In my opinion, you should never waste the bikini clad resource on a problem that could be solved by other means - it just raises needless discussions over resource allocations.

[Russ]

I understand what Divecoz is talking about. If the anchor is truly stuck on something, that's a problem that a windlass won't fix. On our old boat we had a stuck anchor. Long story short, the Coast Guard came and hooked it to their winch. Finally they pulled the anchor out of the water and it was attached to some old cable then suddenly we heard a ping and the thing went flying into the air about 30 feet straight up and landed on the other side of the boat in a splash. It was quite frightening to think what could have happened if it hit someone. The "H" in the Danforth means Hi-Tensile and they aren't kidding, that anchor was strong.

In the situation described (50lbs of kelp) might not have been solved with a windlass which would have gotten bogged down (unless a very powerful one). Dropping the anchor again to shake off the extra weight it the way to do it.

For plain old stuck in the mud anchors, just drive over it until the rode is vertical and cleat it off. Then power forward just a bit and the motor will pull the shank and lift the flukes out. In deep mud, I've always had to shake the thing or drag it in the water to wash off the anchor before lifting it out of the water.

[waternwaves]

But back to my posting. The .... You Never use the winch to dislodge a stuck caught trapped anchor....
You mean to tell me you would attempt to PULL UP your trapped anchor with a winch??

Making me admit I am weak and old........Thanks a lot.......lol....


I recognize the limitations of the winches..... But I am comfortable with about 150 lbs of load on a winch.... Which I then keep hand tension on the backline to release if needed..... I just found that standing on the bow, and pulling up with 150 lbs of force on the bow, along with my 250 made the boat sink to far forward, and often times I have the dinghy up there in the way anyway.... So it was just easier to bring the anchor line back.

The winch will hold 150 lbs of tension much longer than I can, and I just let the buoyancy of the boat do all the work as others have described. 20 minutes of bobbing around has always loosened it enough to raise again.

[Indulgence]

Divecoz, to clarify

... they don't carry enough rode. I have 200' plus chain...

Wow!!!! 200 feet of chain

What I meant was I have 200' of rode, plus chain. (30')

Yeah, 200 feet of half inch chain would affect the trim just a little, don't you think!
Water breaking over the bow all the time.
Laurie

[Divecoz]

Wow Russ!!! and I too am glad no one was in the way of that Danforth!!
I agree with Russ that if its just stuck in the mud ... get over the top of the anchor tighten the rode and then as I have, done, move to the back of the boat , or rock the boat or even ... carefully back the boat up a LITTLE bit and she should come free. I too have tried to use my aft mounted winches with two anchors to Kedge myself off a shoal ahhhhhh but in my case to no avail.

[Bizzy B]

Hi Thanks for the posts this is ex captain Bill. It does not sound like anyone has tried this modification so here is what i propose to do. Since I'm in Southern California I will be stopping by the MacGregor factory to check out the chain locker before assembly and if all looks good I will try this project. I plan to cut out the aft floor of the chain locker and build a fiberglass box to fit. I will make it to fit to the bottom of the V-birth. We only use the V-birth for light storage. We will remove the cushions and have them modified by a friend ( nice to have a friend with a boat upholstery shop) to fit around the new box. I will glass & epoxy this in place so as not to hurt the structural integrity of the boat. I will cut the chain locker cover in half and secure the front of the cover down leaving only the aft half to open. This way the rode can drop in the new locker box and the chain can sit under the front of the locker. The windlass i am considering is from Australia. The South Pacific Breeze 710F (f=free fall) I have talked to a couple of user of this windlass and they are pleased with it.It has a maximum load of 265#, working load of 45#, a low 12 amp draw and a footprint of only 9.2"l x 4.8"w x5.4" h. After reinforcing and securing the front half of the chain locker cover I will mount the windlass here. I am thinking of changing out the anchor roller with one that can secure the anchor in it.I'm adding a third battery under the sink (my boat is a 2005 with a fixed sink). This will make for an easy wire run to the windlass. This battery will be dedicated to the windlass. Since I already have one I will put a sunsei 500 solar charger on the forward hatch cover and run it to this battery. This should help keep the battery charged when I am not using the boat. I will run a drain from the chain locker box to the recessed box at the ballast plug. The relatively small amount of water from pulling the anchor can then be drained when I empty the ballast. I think this will all work well.
The afore mentioned windlass is around $350, A series 24 deep cycle battery around $140 and the rest should be around $150. so for six or seven hundred dollars I should be able to pull it off. With my boating connections probably less. I may even go with a gell battery and mount it forward of the modified locker box in the v-birth making for a shorter wire run.
Bev and I love to fish and anchor often while looking for that perfect spot. I read all the posts, and appreciate the feed back and humor from all of you. The cost of this project will be well worth it if I get to be captain again.
On another note; Have you heard there is now a main furling unit now available for Macs. Mike Inmon designed it for MacGregor and it is now available from them. I saw it in prototype form and it looked great. Another project for another day? It's under $3000 installed. What was that they say about a boat being a hole in the water? Anyway I would appreciate any feedback on this idea before I begin. Remember 2 heads are better than one especially on a crowded boat. If i do this I will take step by step photos.
Thanks The Bizzy B.s Bill And Bev. P.S. I'm new to this forum but not at all new to boating or boat work.

[The Mutt]

bikini clad 2nd mate

Not a bad idea this, every young buck in the area would be trying to help her, forget reversing your trailer down the ramp, a the guys from the local sports club would be carrying your boat up the beach on their shoulders trying to impress best to make sure the bikini clad 2nd mate isn't Borat



Glenn

[Nautek]

Something like this might be useful
http://www.whitworths.com.au/main_itemd ... lutePage=2
Allan