Any 330 owners have a Good F850 windlass

[jip40]

I have gotten tired of having to use two people to deploy anchor (one at helm and one at winlass). I have what I believe to be the original, Lewmar 600 windlass. The person at the windlass has to baby the chain & rode (1/2" 8 plait) to ensure a smooth drop without kinks, and then tie off the anchor line so as not to put too much pressure on the windlass.

I have been studying the Good F850 and their claim is smooth operation (both up and down) plus no need to tie off the line. A one person operation would make it much easier.

Hoping to find a 330 owner with experience. If anyone has a Lewmar 600 and has found a solution to the jamming problem I would also appreciate hearing how it was done.

 

[RussGW270]

Subscribed. I do not have a Marlin, but my mini-marlin likes easy too.

R

 

[DennisG01]

From what you wrote, it sounds like the issue is with the line, not the gypsy. Straighten the line out by letting it trail behind the boat for a few minutes. It's also a good idea to wash your line once in a while, then soak in fabric softener.

Good makes excellent windlasses. I don't personally own one, but friends do and the windlasses are top notch. Great customer support, too. Made in NJ... wait... maybe I shouldn't advertise the Jersey part...

 

[drbatts]

From what you wrote, it sounds like the issue is with the line, not the gypsy. Straighten the line out by letting it trail behind the boat for a few minutes. It's also a good idea to wash your line once in a while, then soak in fabric softener.

I would try washing and soaking the anchor rode with fabric softener first, then try replacing the line before I replaced the windlass. Also how far is the drop from the windlass into the anchor locker, if your anchor locker is overloaded with line it may contribute to the kinks.

 

[jip40]

From what you wrote, it sounds like the issue is with the line, not the gypsy. Straighten the line out by letting it trail behind the boat for a few minutes. It's also a good idea to wash your line once in a while, then soak in fabric softener.


Good makes excellent windlasses. I don't personally own one, but friends do and the windlasses are top notch. Great customer support, too. Made in NJ... wait... maybe I shouldn't advertise the Jersey part...

Dennis - I first had the kinking problem with 3 strand twisted line - I tried the trailing line & soaking in fabric softener - neither worked

Someone suggested I go with 8 plait as it’s softer - did the trailing route & fabric softener before using anchor - results were a little better than 3 strand but still get kinking & jamming

The only thing that will allow good anchor free fall is manually stacking the line in anchor locker when I retrieve the anchor

I’m trying to find out if the anchor locker in the 330 is the issue & if anyone has found some type of insert or changing to the Good windlass will correct the problem

 

[jip40]

I would try washing and soaking the anchor rode with fabric softener first, then try replacing the line before I replaced the windlass. Also how far is the drop from the windlass into the anchor locker, if your anchor locker is overloaded with line it may contribute to the kinks.

I do have 500’ extra anchor line in locker under the 300’ of line attached to the anchor- I have a plastic insert between the two lines but maybe the extra line is reducing the drop & causing the problem - I will be down at the boat a week from today & first thing I will do is remove the 500’ & see if it makes a difference

 

[ttles714]

The good is a get what you pay for quality windlass ... I have had two of them on different boats.. My present boat, a Marlin 300 came with a working Lewmar 700 . There is no comparison to the two.... Like a Harley Davidson and a Vespa scooter !!!

 

[georgemjr]

Can't comment on the good windlass, but I have experienced the same problems and went to 8 plait. Better but still not great. I think the issue is the drop. Grady moved it further back in later years so there is a greater vertical drop. If I have a lot of line out I have to regularly move it aft as it bunches up under the windlass and creates problems.

 

[DennisG01]

I do have 500’ extra anchor line in locker under the 300’ of line attached to the anchor- I have a plastic insert between the two lines but maybe the extra line is reducing the drop & causing the problem - I will be down at the boat a week from today & first thing I will do is remove the 500’ & see if it makes a difference

Bingo. I think that's the issue right there. There's really nothing that a windlass would do - specifically the gypsy - to cause the issue you have. Good catch, Doc.

Unfortunately, I've noticed a few Grady's with what I would call 'less then adequate' locker space for rode. I don't know if it's a common theme across most of their boats, or not, but it's definitely one of those things that had me scratching my head.

 

[everwhom]

Yep - the windlass needs a minimum "fall" for the rode flake up cleanly... Supposedly the min for a Lewmar is 12" but I think the longer the better...

I wonder if slightly enlarging the hole that the rode fall through would help? I noticed it seemed kind of small when I too made the switch from 3-strand to 8-plait because of all the jams I would get both deploying and retrieving. The 8-plait solved it for me, and I rarely have a problem doing the anchor solo. Also I retrofitted a Lewmar wireless windlass remote since my 2003 33 Express did not come with up and down buttons at the bow. It was really easy to install -- I posted detail instructions on this site a while ago!

 

[jip40]

Yep - the windlass needs a minimum "fall" for the rode flake up cleanly... Supposedly the min for a Lewmar is 12" but I think the longer the better...

I wonder if slightly enlarging the hole that the rode fall through would help? I noticed it seemed kind of small when I too made the switch from 3-strand to 8-plait because of all the jams I would get both deploying and retrieving. The 8-plait solved it for me, and I rarely have a problem doing the anchor solo. Also I retrofitted a Lewmar wireless windlass remote since my 2003 33 Express did not come with up and down buttons at the bow. It was really easy to install -- I posted detail instructions on this site a while ago!

One of the first things I did after purchasing the boat 8 years ago was having the handheld remote installed - prior to that anchoring was a royal PITA.

Enlarging the hole to the locker might be an excellent solution. It's an arms length reach from the anchor locker hatch forward to the point where the hole is located. Better engineering is 20/20 hindsight, but I still love the boat.

I was thinking more in line with taking an anchor pulpit roller that has the horseshoe style line keeper at the end and installing it backwards in the locker to move the drop point further aft - I haven't figured out how to install it or if it would even work. I was hoping to find someone that had done it successfully

Regardless, the first thing I'm going to do is remove the 500' of rode from the locker to free up some space