Electric anchor winch questions

 've done a fair bit of research with the view to eventually fitting an electric anchor winch to my Swiftcraft Dominator. I currently use an ezi-lifter anchor clip under a polyform float setup, and have for many years now, not hard work at all. It was easier with the CC I had previously , as you just tied off to the bollard, and, when retrieving, just fed the rope directly into on of the two storage areas directly underfoot. The Dommie, being a cuddy, complicates matters, and to be honest, issues with that sort of thing are what kept me away from cuddies for a long time, as well as the reduced fishing area compared to a CC. I still reckon anything with any sort of superstructure forrard is an old man's boat, but that's what I am now  I have worked around this, and removed the need to access the front deck, by having a 16mm bow rope permanently attached to the front bollard, with an eye spliced in the free end, which is just long enough to not foul the prop . The anchor rope gets tied to to this when you have enough rope out, just not as easy to fine-tune your length as with the CC. This also doubles as a handling rope when launching/retrieving. I often fish alone locally. The rope coils into a fish bin which lives under the outboard well.
I fish two distinctly different areas over the course of a year, with differing requirements. Locally, I am usually anchoring between 8 and 14 fathoms, over either sand or reef, never mud, no strong tides, usually some swell, but never big ones. When I go north in winter, it is usually a bit deeper, pick going over between 12 and 22 fathoms over coral reef or rubble, often with a lot of tide and some swell. The float, in both scenarios, gets clipped on so it it usually 10-15 metres in front of the boat in its finally position. Having the float pre-positioned on the rope also allows you to drop the whole lot quickly if a fast-running fish is rapidly emptying the spool--usually a sailfish which has taken a floating gar meant for a spaniard. 
So, the options are either a gypsy-or drum-type reel. So much of the chat on these, I realised, comes from PPB snapper or SA whiting fishermen who are anchoring over mud/rubble/weed/sand bottoms, hence all the use of Sarca's or ploughs, and generally pretty shallow water as well. So not really relevant to my type of fishing, although it would be when I occasionally fish Shark Bay.

So my questions

  • Drum type winches need to either be mounted in the well or cabin. The Dommie has a capacious well under the foredeck, but access for mounting inside it would be limited. I have seen them mounted in these boats forward in the cabin, which involves having a hawsepipe running from the foredeck, surely this would bring a lot of water in as you retrieve, messy. Drum winches would also need to have the rope end fixed to the drum, no option of dropping the whole thing if you need to, short of cutting. Also more expensive. Does anyone have any pictures of mounting these on this hull that aren't already on the net? I've seen quite a few.
  • Gypsy type--the South Pacific 710 with a stainless gypsy, free fall and the appropriate rope and chain seems to be the choice--many "issues" with these turn out to be incorrect mounting(not enough space below) use of incorrect rope or chain. End does not need to be secured, although I'd have the last 10 metres clearly marked Normally have 110 m of rope , would need to replace the 12mm silver rope with a nylon rope for consistent results. Anyone used on of these on this hull?


Most manufacturers seem to specify the use of a snubber to take the load off the winch when anchored, I certainly wouldn't be climbing out through the foredeck access to do this every time I anchor. Anything else to consider?
Thanks in advance


spinksy's picture

Posts: 266

Date Joined: 06/10/10

If you dont want to tie off

Sat, 2015-07-25 04:29

You will have to go drum winch. From memory isn't the dominator anchor well offset so you couldn't put the drum in there. I didn't use a hawse pipe, I used a stainless ring mounted over a rubber flap which I had to cut a hole in the structure of the boat (measure 6 times cut once!!)
I went with lonestar after a lot of research and it has been faultless. If you talk to them tell them what you need I am sure they will come up with a few options.

sunshine's picture

Posts: 2623

Date Joined: 03/03/09

Remember the added weight

Sat, 2015-07-25 08:16

Of whatever you fit will change the boats performance ......fitted a Lewmar on my 6.8 seaqest which I love but the extra weight on the bow did change the boats trim particularly as it also has 20 metres of short link chain.   Most winches do not recommend silver rope !

solly's picture

Posts: 375

Date Joined: 11/09/05

Ive got a lewmar winch

Sat, 2015-07-25 09:10

 When using silver rope it was a pain as you had to have somebody up at the winch to assist the rope feeding back into the well.I changed to a 8 strand flexible rope 2 years ago and i will never go back to silver and my decky is happy as he never goes forward anymore. I limit my anchoring to 40metres as it takes time to drop and recover. It takes some pratice to get used to anchoring pass the spot and coming back to it as mine is not freespool but there is a freespool model in the range. Most of these gypsey style winches are simular and most run 10 to 20 metres of shortlink chain with them. I got the rope off ebay and its more expensive than silver but it come with chain as well.pm me if you want the sellers site

____________________________________________________________________________

There are two types of people ,do'ers and watchers
Right now the do'ers are the doing it
And the watchers are watching us do it

ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

Anchor well is full width

Sat, 2015-07-25 09:14

 The foredeck access hatch is offset to stbd, but the actual well is full width of the bow and quite capacious. Fitting one in the well should be possible with the fitting of an access hatch in the bulkhead behind, accessing from the cab. The actual weight at the front would be quite welcome--Dommies need to keep the bow down for the fine entry/flattish stern hull to work well.  Lone Star certainly get the plaudits, but are very expensive.

spinksy's picture

Posts: 266

Date Joined: 06/10/10

Lonestar

Sun, 2015-07-26 07:17

 Are a lot cheaper option than say stress free. Depends on your budget . Prefer drums to gypsy style as they wear out and slip. My Lonestar took a little getting used to, But a great bit of kit

ranmar850's picture

Posts: 2702

Date Joined: 12/08/12

Found a picture of a Lonestar

Sun, 2015-07-26 08:47

 Apparently mounted in the anchor well of a Swiftcraft Explorer--half cab version of the Dommie, same forward setup. Just mounted it to the rear bulkhead of the well with a reinforcing plate on the other side, looked relatively straightforward. Looking at that, I am now tending towards the drum type. My only concerns would be the need for a wide hawsepipe due to short distance between winch and fairlead, which has the potential to fill the large well with water if you take one over the front--the well has  a small drain, but I'd have to add a second one on the other side, at least 25mm diameter, to back it up. And the difficulty with retaining a bollard, which i still need at times for leaving it on a mooring. I'm sure that can be worked around.

Thanks for all the input.

 

z00m's picture

Posts: 1086

Date Joined: 10/05/14

 You're not reinventing the

Sun, 2015-07-26 16:45

 You're not reinventing the wheel, check with the suppliers and they will have a solution for most obstacles and be able to advise what others have done in your situation.

spinksy's picture

Posts: 266

Date Joined: 06/10/10

If you look at the gallery

Mon, 2015-07-27 14:20

on that site, Look at the haines 630 breeze. The third photo from the left, Shows the stainless ring over the rubber flap. Better than having that great big hawse pipe on the front stops the water entering works a treat.