Windlass Installation
By Jeff Cote
What follows is a brief description of the work undertook to install a vertical windlass on a MKI Catalina 36.
The Quick Antares Windlass was chosen for several reasons:
- Cost: great value at approx: $1500
- Power: 1500 Watts, able to handle practically all loads
- Rope and Chain on a single gypsy
- Manual free-fall and emergency lift system
- Easily integrates to chain counter and remote operation at the helm
- Motor watertight to IP67
- Easily remove chain and/or rope
See the Quick website for more details:
http://www.quickitaly.com/?lng=us&ms1=10&ms2=7&ms3=31&ms4=55&cs1=1&cs2=1...
Before undertaking the project a few issues were considered:
- the alignment of the chain from gypsy to anchor roller needed to be within spec (i.e. little vertical and little horizontal play)
- the chain should drop at least 16” from the hauss pipe
First step was to modify the MKI anchor locker. The shelf where the windlass was to be positioned was too short. Another constraint was making sure the windlass motor would be located inside the boat and yet the chain would rest in the anchor locker. The gap between the motor and chain holes would be the location of the anchor locker wall. Eventually the shelf itself would have two cut-out holes: one coming inside the boat for the windlass motor and the other into the anchor locker for the chain. Using various tools (including jigsaw, angle grinder, and dremel) a portion of the anchor locker (see Figures 1 and 2 below) was cut away.
Figure 1
Figure 2
As can be seen in Figure 3 below a wooden structure was created that would now fill the space and yet create a longer shelf (approximately 11”) and also have the space for the windlass motor inside the boat.
Figure 3
With the shape of the anchor locker complete, the long process of using epoxy to give structural integrity to the new anchor locker was undertaken. With a large safety margin in mind (since the windlass is a 1500W model) the whole inside and out was glassed with at least 5 layers of glass and sometimes quite more (see figures 4 and 5 below).
Figure 4
Figure 5
Luckily the new anchor locker shape had many 90 degree bends which add significant structural integrity and prevents bending of the anchor locker shelf. Once the glass had set, some filler material was used to make sure the visible part of the anchor locker would be nice and smooth. It took three applications to get a relatively smooth (yet still not perfect) finish (see figures 6, 7, and 8). The last stage of surface preparation involved painting the whole outside surface so that it matched the outside of the anchor locker. Surprisingly the paint job came really close to the gelcoat. With time surface differences are hardly noticeable.
Figure 6
Figure 7
Figure 8
Now came the usual steps associated with a windlass install: positioning and drilling of the cut-out holes for the windlass. Not too much guesswork here, but any errors would be quite labor intensive to fix. Once the two cut-out holes were drilled I also used epoxy and filler to protect the inner sides of both cut-out holes. A backing plate was also used to strengthen and minimize the flexing of the anchor shelf (aluminium shelf barely noticeable in figure 9). Longer studs had to be used since the shelf itself was nearly 2” thick.
Figure 9
One of the harder parts of this whole process was the alignment of the cut-out for the capstan on the anchor locker door (see figure 10 below). Numerous different measuring exercises were undertaken here. Ask the advice of others so that they agree with your thought process on this one. Also consider the cut-out itself needs to be a little larger since the anchor locker door swings open. There is just no room for any error on this cut-out, especially since it would affect the look of the anchor install the most.
Figure 10
The forward interior bulkhead was modified to allow the motor box to fit. A special wooden box was designed with matching paper-backed teak for the bulkhead (see figure 11) to have the whole unit enclosed and out-of-sight.
Figure 11
The electrical connections are pretty straightforward. As seen in figure 9 the solenoid was installed near the motor. A 2/0 cable was used to power the windlass, since the total cable run was just about 40 feet. The up and down foot switches are installed on either side of the anchor shelf on their own perfect little ledge (figure 12 below).
Figure 12
I’ve also attached a link below to remote chain counter and controller CHC 1202 which is installed at the helm on an instrument Navpod.
http://www.quickitaly.com/?lng=us&ms1=10&ms2=8&ms3=36&ms4=81&cs1=1&cs2=1...
Lastly, stainless plates were created from stencils to protect the anchor locker and shelf from wear and tear. Although very labor intensive, the whole project was a success. I’m quite satisfied with the results and the vertical windlass makes gunkholing much easier. Figure 13 below shows the final result.
Figure 13
Feel free to contact me with any questions at jeff_cote@hotmail.com
Jeff Cote
Satori II #1065
Vancouver, BC