New Electric Windlass for Femme, CD 33

[Paul D.]

This was an interesting installation. The anchor locker and forward V berth bulkhead created challenges for installing any sort of windlass, manual or electric. I actually had no way of mounting a horizontal manual windlass like I would have preferred, at least initially. The bulkhead would prevent the haus hole being aft of the unit. A Muir Manual 500 windlass would have worked but I did not prefer the winching and the chain running over the lip of the locker would have played havoc on the deck gel coat.

After much research, I went with a Lewmar V2 unit as the template showed the distance between the chain hole and the hole for the motor shaft was the greatest. This allowed positioning the windlass so the chain falls into the very aft end of the locker and the motor to be mounted fully in the V berth. Pros: Motor and wiring stay in a dry environment and the chain stays in the locker which drains overboard. Clean look on the foredeck. Cons: Motor takes up some space in the forward end of v berth but above your feet so it is not intrusive. After three weeks aboard and much anchoring in several different types of bottoms I can say it works well. When I go all chain next year it should work better as my existing rode is rather stiff and does not lay in the locker correctly, needing assistance. But we have 50' of chain so that works.

For now I am tying off the anchor to the cleat as before, not leaving it loaded on the windlass as shown. I leave enough chain to go around the locker in order to open it and I mounted a remote switch to port so we can stand and operate the operation.

The breaker and rocker switch are mounted in the port cockpit locker and the cables run under the port side deck chase area. I chose to run off the house bank and not install another battery for the windlass forward.

Anyway, here's how it looks.

[Jeff and Sarah]

Nice installation! I have often wanted to install a windlass on my 33 but ran into the same problems which you describe. Thanks for posting what you came up with! Would you mind showing a photo of the motor in the v-berth?

Luckily in the Chesapeake there is never a need to anchor in much more than 8-10 feet of water so hauling the anchor by hand isn’t terrible, just somewhat unpleasant when the chain is especially muddy. A windlass along with a raw water washdown seems like a worthwhile addition.