Reply To: Horizontal or vertical windlass, Dufour 31 (1979)

#457346
Roger Holmes

    Hi Nazam

    I realise I have not been clear. There is no way to use the old chain locker on the deck. There is simply not enough fall for the winch to work. This applies to horizontal or vertical winches.

    Trying to move the chain into the existing locker can never work. I did consider installing a chain pipe to carry the chain down under the bunk in the fore peak but this would destroy the front berth and would be liable to problems of the chain or rope jamming.

    On Mycroft I created a new locker infront of the old locker. I cut away part of the front of the old locker to provide access to the area under the fore deck. The winch is mounted above the deck and bolted through the deck. The access I made allowed me to reinforce the deck by glueing a board under the deck. Once everything was in place I screwed a panel across the access to close the new locker from the old one.

    I attach pictures marked with the position of the new locker.

    A minor detail is that I still used the strong point in the old locker for the place to attach the end of the anchor rope. This provides access to release the rope and chain in an emergency. The rope travels though the new panel mentioned above.

    I am going away today and will not be able to get to my boat for a while. When I can I will take more pictures for you.

    Kind regards

    Roger

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