PROJECTS Windlass and ANCHORING System
An anchoring system was designed and installed in 2007.
	The anchor is a 22-lb stainless steel Manta (Bruce-type). I custom-made the bow-roller assembly from ¼” thick bronze plate and 1-1/4” thick bronze stock to fit around the original bow casting. Two bronze rollers are encased in the assembly. The rollers and the top plate of the bow-roller assembly control the anchor as it is pulled into its stored position by the windlass. The windlass is a vertical Crystal 600 made by Quick. It has planetary reduction gears and draws only 40 amps at full load. It has enough power to pull the boat to the anchor position and to break the anchor free; we put the engine in reverse while idling to prevent the boat from over-riding the anchor while lifting it.
	The original bronze cowl vent brings fresh air into the anchor well and forward cabin. Any water that comes into the vent will drain into the anchor well and out a new drain placed at the waterline. This drain has a directional check valve; this prevents lake water from entering the anchor well when the bow punches into big waves.
	The anchor-line holding well was made from 5mm marine plywood and mahogany edge strips. The inside was lined with two layers of polypropylene cloth set in West System epoxy resin (like the deck and cabin top). The front piece is varnished mahogany, matching the interior trim. Any mud or water that comes in on the anchor line and chain is contained and discharged through the waterline drain mentioned above. Nothing enters the bilge. We have 25’ of 5/16” high-tensile galvanized chain and 270’ of 5/8” 8-plait nylon anchor line. 175' is stored in the well and the additional 120' is in reserve under the V-berth. The windlass motor is mounted under the deck. The short vertical drop from the deck to the bottom of the anchor well requires a second, tailing device to pull the line and chain into the compartment. Without this tailing motor, the line is prone to bunching in the windlass. The tailing device has two gear-driven rollers. Springs permit the distance between the rollers to be automatically adjusted to match the size of the line. This allows the device to smoothly tail the anchor line, as well as the sections of spliced line and anchor chain (each with different diameters).
	The anchor well is shown with the service access door installed. The windlass assembly and holding well fit within the forepeak and do not reduce the size of the V-berth. The area on each side of the service access door allows the cowl vent to provide fresh air to the forward cabin. The water tank was moved from the cockpit to underneath the V-berth. The fill fitting is located on the deck near the bow, and the water-tank vent is above the anchor well but inside the cabin. This prevents deck water from entering the fresh water supply and also prevents water-tank overflow from entering the bilge when filling the tank.
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