We recently purchased a Lewmar V2 windlass, for our 1985 C36, and the next step is the installation. It's not the easiest one to install, but we got it at a really good price.
For anyone not familiar with this design, the V2's footprint a cross between a rectangle and an oval, with the capstan at one end, and an "enclosed" chain pipe at the other.
The motor drops through a hole directly under the capstan, and the chain drops through a chain pipe at the opposite end of the oval. The Capstan is pointed towards the stern, and the chain pipe towards the bow.
So we need to cut two holes. One for the motor, and one for the chain pipe.
I've read all the forum posts, and searched the internet, and have tentatively decided the best option for us would be to install it with the motor dropping into the forward cabin. and the chain dropping directly into the chain locker. so the base of the unit will straddle for forward bulkhead.
In theory, I really like this idea, it will involve minimal modifications to the existing structure. I'll have to trim the corners of the anchor locker doors, and the motor will be in a nice dry location (as long as I carefully seal the base of the unit).
But this whole project hinges on the thickness of the forward bulkhead. Does anyone know just how thick it is? I was also wondering if anyone has taken this approach before.
Thanks!
Alex
Alex & Caitlin
S/V Windswept
Vancouver, BC
1985 C-36
SR/FK M25
If you're going to do this the way you describe please take pictures, I would like to do the same thing to mine with the identical windless. Might make a nice project for the main sheets as well;)
Larry Robcke
MKl Tech Editor S/V L' Amante #319, 1984 C36
Sailing Long Island sound and the Hudson River
I just installed an Anchorlift Dolphin. Good news was the price was really great, bad news, it has a closed drop. That meant I had to have it hand over the locker doors like you seem to be contemplating. I created a half inch Starboard base, cut out notches in the anchor locker doors, and have the motor just inside the v-berth. I also put a plate underneath. One trick is that if you cut the corners of the anchor locker doors, you'll have to reinforce them a bit. That bulkhead seems amazingly thin by the way. I pulled back the inside teak plywood and from what I could see, the glass bulkhead actually had light coming through. The installation does look hand made, but hey, it works and didn't cost me numerous boat units. I'll try to take some photos.
S/V Tao
Catalina 36
1983, Hull #114
drdanj, please create an automated signature. We really appreciate your posts, but we can't remember what model boat you have, and so we don't have context for your ideas and comments. It's easy to do: just click on UserCP in the upper left corner of this page and follow the prompt. Your postings would mean so much more to all of us if we knew more about you and your boat. Use the other members' signatures on this forum as a guide for the kind of information that is valuable to include in an automated signature. It only takes a minute to do.
Thanks.
Larry Brandt
S/V High Flight #2109
Pacific Northwest, PDX-based
2002 C-36 mkII SR/FK M35B
Hi Alex,
We are very interested in the installation of the V2 in your Catalina 36. We have a 1987 Catalina 36 and want to install a windlass. We have not yet purchased one, but are seriously considering a Lewmar V2. W are wondering how the installation went and if you have any pictures. Also if anyone else has any input on such an installation and the pros and cons of horizontal versus vertical windlasses for Catalina 36's as well as various brands of windlasses we would be very interested and greatly appreciative of the information.
Thanks so much.
Dan and Linda O'Dell
Magic Carpet
1987 Catalina 36
San Diego home port
Boat currently in La Paz
Dan and Linda O'Dell
Magic Carpet
1987 Catalina 36
Home Port - San Diego
Currently lies in La Paz
I am about to close on a Catalina 36. Although an autohelm is my first priority, a windless is close behind. I only joined the assocation days ago, and have not been able to check out any past posts. Keep me informed, I will help where I can.
Gary
Gary Matthesen
"Holiday"
1987 #50646
Oyster Bay Long Island NY
It worked out really well, and this is probably way more then you were looking for, but I’ve been meaning to write out our experience.
I should point out that Chuck Sonquist was quite helpful in providing input that led to the final installation, he sent me some pictures and answered my questions, and drdanj’s solution was pretty close to what we did.
The windlass sits on top of a sheet of 1/4" stainless steel that sits on top of the deck that has a large wooden backing plate. The built in “chain pipe” is as far back in the anchor locker as possible, and the windlass motor is at the front of the forward cabin. (and it just fits, maybe 1-2” of clearance, if memory serves me correctly). We also installed the solenoid beside the windlass to reduce the total length of wire we needed to buy. (a positive and a negative from the battery to the solenoid, and then three wires from the solenoid to the windlass).
The stainless steel plate has a couple of purposes, 1st, the underside of the V2 is not flat, so I thought it would be difficult to get a good seal between it and the deck (2 non-flat surfaces). And, between it and the wooden backing plate, I think the whole deck is sandwiched and flattened, which helps spread the load, and ensure that the whole thing stays waterproof. Everything’s sealed with Butyl Tape that I bought from MaineSail, and so far not a single drip.
The trickiest part (and there were a few tricky parts) was determining exactly where to drill the hole for the windlass to connect to it's motor (you want it as far back as possible). But once that was done it was a pretty straightforward installation.
We cut the corners of the anchor locker doors with a jigsaw and then sanded them smooth.
The circuit breaker is installed under the games table, and the wired switch is mounted beside our electrical panel at the Nav Station. It’s treated as the “emergency” switch” incase our remote ever fails. I figure that we can slowly pull the anchor up, with one of us sticking our head through the hatch yelling instructions if need be. We use our wired remote, that has a plug in the forward cabin (just on top of the hanging locker). The downside of this is that the forward hatch needs to be open (even if just slightly) to operate the windlass, it’s never let any rain in, but in an emergency I’d rather be able to leave the forward hatch closed. We may get a wireless remote in a few years, but the boat came with the wired remote, it works, and the socket is always dry.
There were a few frustrations in this project, the biggest of which was Lewmar. Their wiring diagram included in the manual was either wrong or left huge amounts of info out. And the mounting template that comes with the windlass has the wrong bolt pattern (this was determined after having the stainless steel plate made).
I’m really happy with how the project turned out, the motor is in our nice dry forward cabin, and the chain drops into our chain locker, with no real concern of wear and tear on the gelcoat. The V2 has performed flawlessly, and while we always do our best to motor forward and just use the windlass to pull up the chain (and not move the boat forward) it’s powerful enough that we don’t have to be overly concerned about this, so our communication is never “intense”
After writing this out it sounds so simple, but it was about 5 days worth of work.
I don't have pictures of it, but I'll be to the boat this weekend and will post those next week.
Alex & Caitlin
S/V Windswept
Vancouver, BC
1985 C-36
SR/FK M25
Alex, if you want to email me or Steve Frost some hi-res pictures of the installation we can make a tech article of it. You can put a narrative in as well if you want or we can distill it down from your post here. I think this would make a very good piece of content for the web site though, there's a lot of owners of Mark I boats around that would benefit from this knowledge.
I will definitly do that, depending on the weather I can probably get some pictures on Sunday, and write up a more detailed explanation next week.
In the mean time if you guys have any more questions please let don't hesitate to contact me.
Alex
Alex & Caitlin
S/V Windswept
Vancouver, BC
1985 C-36
SR/FK M25
Alex,
Thanks so much for all of the great information. That was really helpful. We would love any pictures that you have. My husband and I want to get the windlass installed while our boat is in La Paz and so we need as much information as possible to first buy everything we need in San Diego, get it all to La Paz and then work with people there. Again, thanks for all of your help and we look forward to any pictures.
Dan and Linda
Dan and Linda O'Dell
Magic Carpet
1987 Catalina 36
Home Port - San Diego
Currently lies in La Paz
Here's the first round of pictures, it was a pretty rainy day, so I did not use our good camera, just the phone. Next decent day I'll take better pictures and send them to you bud (could you PM me your email address).
429 shows where the breaker is, we have it attached to the engine battery, but as part of upgrading/rewiring the entire battery system, it will likely go to the house bank). When we do this we'll have to be careful to remember to turn off all sensitive electronics when using the windlass.
431 shows where the wires are run up through the cabinet. We choose this route because it was the shortest possible, which meant we did not have to buy new wires (The boat's old windlass was smaller, and used 4awg through a longer run.) If we didn't already have these we would have gone with 2 awg, and brought the cables up to cabin height either at the bow, or more likely up through the hanging locker. Note that if you do go this route you cannot cut the hole in the corner of the locker, it needs to be offset, as there is structural fiberglass back there (I took the wooden plug out to show where we started to cut the hole and stopped)
433 shows the solenoid, the windlass and the backing plate. The cables runs along the cabin top behind the wooden trim.
435 shows where our windlass remote plugs in (we've also wrapped it with silicone tape to help take the load). This is actually a trailer connector that we bought from west marine. The boat came with a dead windlass, which included a remote, but the deck socket for the plug was exposed to the elements, and completely corroded) instead of buying a new remote, we spent $10 on the socket, it's not the prettiest fix, but it's worked well over the past season.
440 shows the end product on the deck. We dry fitted the windlass, and penciled in the area that needed to be cut off of the anchor locker doors, then sanded them smooth. The lip that runs around the top of the anchor locker (underneath the stainless steel backing plate) were also cut down.
Alex & Caitlin
S/V Windswept
Vancouver, BC
1985 C-36
SR/FK M25