Electric Anchor on bow

[Arminius]

Moved the Min Kota electric anchor from the swim platform to the bow. Better pictures soon. This major project involved removal of the anchor and components from the locker, bolting 5" pieces of cedar 2 x 4 to the 4 walls of the locker, stripping and attaching the lid to the cedar with 6" x 5/16th" galvanized lags, and wiring the control on starboard and power from the battery on port.
The factory chaff guards in the locker were screwed to 1/2" encapsulated plywood plates. Tough construction! This provided a foundation for the cedar that the lid is screwed to. The anchor windlass is bolted to the lid. A safety chain ties the anchor reel to the main shackle at the bottom of the anchor well. The hanging red/black wire will power a port nav light as the anchor obscures that side of the standard nav light (to remain).

Lazy Daze was right that planting the gadget on the platform would produce complaints.

 

[NotHerDecision]

Just a couple of thoughts on this.
1. You should attach the end of the chain with rope to the inside of the locker. If you get the anchor stuck you don’t have any way to cut it loose.

2. That cedar really isn’t strong enough. I would recommend starboard or some other material. When you bolted the cedar through the anchor locker did you epoxy the holes and Re-drill? That could be a major point of water intrusion into your core.

 

[JimG]

and the resale value of this jackleg boat keeps going downhill!

 

[Arminius]

Only way to get your money's worth if it is not income personal property is to destroy it faster than it is deprecated. Wrestling with it has medical benefit, passively acquiring the boater's physique does not.

 

[JHornsby3]

Why, again, would one want/need a off sized windless on a 20' boat? And that set up is going to come off there and be gone. That cedar might hold a good bit but having run the lag bolts into the 2x4 a few times and those top lag holes are now loose and will not hold for very long. A good wave or wake and your going to have a nice big anchor locker with open top.

 

[Arminius]

 

[Arminius]

All visible modifications are to the previously hinged lid made of "Starboard" ($150 part) The challenge was securing the lid adequately to provide a foundation for bolting the Minn Kota. The red cedar blocks were drilled and tapped across the grain without splitting for four 5/16th" galv lags (6"long). Painted with true oil paint for longevity in marine environment. The chain is overkill securing the entire apparatus to the stem of the boat in case it is carried away in a hurricane, unlikely given the 800# rating of the anchor cord on the reel. Now I have a switch under the dash allowing deployment and retrieval of the anchor. Shorted the internal circuit breaker but placed a CB of same amps with manual actuation at an accessible point near battery allowing de-energization. Gotta hand it to these stereo techs that put obnoxious speakers on boats-routing wiring can be challenging.

 

[Dabble]

But why?

 

[NotHerDecision]

I’m not beating you up here. This is an awesome place to share ideas and learn from many years of experience. I genuinely want to help you so please listen to this and I’ll back off.

the anchor locker is most likely gelcoated fiberglass. Not starboard as searay would want to match the finish on the boat. The cedar will not hold up with lag screws from the top as previously mentioned as it will shrink over time but that’s your choice. The big issue to me personally is if that deck is cored. You have bolts going through the cedar into the locker without protection from moisture in a place that is almost always wet. And… you need to be able to cut that chain so at minimum take a pair of bolt cutters along.

Let me know if you want to chat more about it. I definitely understand the need for a windlass, just trying to offer some professional advice.

 

[Stee6043]

I think you'd be a fun neighbor to have.

 

[bbwhitejr]

I think you'd be a fun neighbor to have.

I have one! He has a 45' Carver DB that has some water in most of the many bilge areas it has. Instead of finding out where the water was coming from and making the repairs, he has devised a pumping/removal system utilizing all parts from Harbor Freight!!!!

Bennett

 

[quality time]

So what made you wise up and remove the windlass from the swim platform?

 

[Arminius]

The installation on the swim platform was pretty easy. The wiring even reached the battery. Despite all the objections, it worked well. The cover is streamlined and free of sharp edges. Nonetheless, it got in the way and Susan objected. Since I already had it, the choice was to move it or ditch it, so I moved it. Lot of work though and, had I anticipated the effort, the needle would probably have moved towards "no." We'll have to see how it works out. It is a little complicated and I was pleasantly surprised to find that Searay had reinforced the fiberglass interior well with load bearing plywood. Many of the comments are not well thought out as cedar is wonderful and durable stuff. I went to the store looking for oak but they cut them all down or reserved them for forest fire kindling. Here is the page where this project started: http://www.clubsearay.com/index.php?threads/electric-anchor.103802/

 

[Stee6043]

I look forward to seeing how you mount that nav light. Don't forget about your 112.5 degree visibility requirement...

 

[Arminius]

I’m not beating you up here. This is an awesome place to share ideas and learn from many years of experience. I genuinely want to help you so please listen to this and I’ll back off.

the anchor locker is most likely gelcoated fiberglass. Not starboard as searay would want to match the finish on the boat. The cedar will not hold up with lag screws from the top as previously mentioned as it will shrink over time but that’s your choice. The big issue to me personally is if that deck is cored. You have bolts going through the cedar into the locker without protection from moisture in a place that is almost always wet. And… you need to be able to cut that chain so at minimum take a pair of bolt cutters along.

Let me know if you want to chat more about it. I definitely understand the need for a windlass, just trying to offer some professional advice.

The chain locker would only be wet if you were to throw wet chain into it but it is now empty. The lid seats into a gutter with a drain (red/black wire exits). There is a drain at the bottom which exits through the hull but nothing has ever come out there as the chain was too much trouble to use. My doctor says his son is in charge of his anchor. It would be an afternoon of comedy if I ever asked gun-toting, mutinous Susan to "weigh" the anchor.

 

[JimG]

You can change out the existing navigation light to a socketed version with a 12" mast (or whatever it takes to get up over the winch).

 

[Arminius]

I'll retain existing red/green nav light visible from dead ahead and add a red light on port side of winch.

 

[b_arrington]

I'll retain existing red/green nav light visible from dead ahead and add a red light on port side of winch.

That...doesn't pass the sniff test on USCG required lighting. You can't have multiple side lights of the same color. It will confuse other boaters as to what's going on. You would be better off safety (and regulation) wise to either raise the light as suggested, or abandon it all together and install port and starboard sidelights with correctly lighted visibility arcs. You already planned to do one, so a second isn't that much additional work.

 

[Arminius]

There is no sniff test. Are multiple lights banned by the letter of a reg? Next you will be telling me you have "human rights!"

 

[JHornsby3]

When the USCG comes "sniffing" around, you'll know the "sniff test"