I know. I've read them too....but I've also read some very positive reviews and then there's Hal Roth, who was very happy with his on his circumnavigation.

I think a lot of this boils down to personal preference and how much physical work one likes to do vs how much money one wants to spend upgrading these old boats...which probably isn't going to be a great return on investment. Web Chiles rows everywhere and never has had an engine on his dinghy. I like that philosophy. If he can circumnavigate the world with it, why can't I circumnavigate the Bahamas with it? I work out lifting weights at the gym twice a week, and compared to that, hauling up an anchor has been easy work.

This weekend, just for the learning experience, I cranked up my danforth without the engine running in 15kts of wind, just to see how painful it would be. Less than I thought it would be, so I'm now thinking about engineering a system of rollers along the side deck that I can use to pull up the CQR anchor with the jib winch.

I noticed that it took me about 3 seconds per foot to raise the anchor...plus some resting time, it was about 5-10 minutes using the jib winch...Hal Roth also did the whole procedure in about 10 minutes, he said.

The rollers would be temporary, i.e. I would attach them between the windows with velcro whenever I want to raise the CQR.

I had to think a while about the chain. Obviously, it won't go through the jib winch itself...so what I'm thinking of doing is attaching a fairly stout nylon line to the anchor (in addition to the 100' of chain). When the chain reaches the jib winch, I'll lock off the chain, detach the nylon line from the chain, thread it onto the jib winch and continue cranking the nylon. For the chain and the nylon, I'll have two buckets - one for the chain and one for the nylon. As I pull in the nylon with the jib winch, I'll feed the chain into its bucket as well.

When I'm done, I'll put both buckets plus the temp rollers in the anchor locker.

Upsides of this system:

1. Cost - About $100 for the rollers.

2. I can haul up the anchor from the cockpit, so I can steer and throttle while I'm hauling. Most of the time I sail solo so this is a big advantage.

Downsides to this system:

1. That side of the deck will get messy....but it didn't get that messy today testing it out.

2. Slow - feeding both the chain and the nylon into the buckets. Liza Copeland mentions the slowness of manual anchor winches in one of her articles on the subject. The one big advantage she felt Baheera had over other boats with manual winches, is the speed she and her husband could unset and re-set the anchor. With a manual winch you are much less motivated to move to a better spot...even though you really should (she says).

3. The velcro will only last a year, I figure. No big deal to replace, I assume.

This is all just theory at this point, but I'm a software engineer so I'm very used to putting theory into practice and then working out the "bugs". I also like to first bounce new ideas of other knowledgable engineers, before spending time and money on them. Thoughts anyone? See any showstoppers? :-)

Yes, I have looked seriously at the Manson Supreme and Rocna. Beth Leonard in her book "The Voyager's Handbook", which is the best cruising how-to book I've ever read, says that the CQR is used by about 98% of all world cruisers. Hal Roth says (in his book) that it's a "fiendishly clever design". Granted these books may be a bit dated...but then again, these new kidson the block (Manson, Rocna) have yet to fully prove themselves over time...which the CQR has...and besides, it only cost me $150 for an anchor that West Marine charges about $900 new, so I figure I can always keep it as a backup anchor. Experienced offshore cruisers seem to have several backups. They also tend to oversize on the anchor. (Again, Beth Leonard - not just my opinion.) 45# is about right from my reading.

Showstopper: The chain is too heavy to haul back to the anchor locker.

Solution: Manual windlass at the bow plus possibly an autopilot with wireless remote control or a "poor man's autopilot" i.e. a simple rope and block system leading from the wheel to the bow. (I'm already successfully using this system to get the mainsail down when solo.)

Beth Leonard also had a manual windlass on Silk (37' Shannon ketch) when she circumnavigated, "which proved workable and durable". p 166

BTW, I misquoted her slightly above, on the CQR. (Was going from memory.) What she said was, "Of 100 cruising boats whose crews completed surveys in New Zealand in 2004, plow anchors - specifically the CQR and Delta - turned out to be the most common primary anchors, and their crews used them 98 percent of the time."

To your point though, this was 9 years ago.

Matthew, the brand is Lofrans. Made in Italy.

Hal Roth recommended this horizontal style over the vertical style, simply because one can get more leverage on it from a standing position. For me, this eliminated the horizontal Lewmar manual windlass, which one would crank like a jib winch.

West Marine said they could get one in for me, so I can try it out before fully committing to this plan. (May have to pay a restocking fee, though.)

Hi, Nick. No worries.

Right now, I lead the anchor rode back to the starboard jib winch and haul it up from there, as I describe above. I have the system built, but have yet to test it out, so I'll get back to you all with results.

As for the sand and salt that will collect on the starboard deck area (there is not really any yucky mud around here), I have installed a 40' washdown hose, so I'll just wash it all down after the anchor is up. I plan to install a watermaker, so I don't think I'll run out of fresh water for this.

All that being said, I have decided not buy a manual anchor windlass, for the reasons you say, and also because a new one is almost as expensive as a new electric windlass!

Someday, when I have the time and money, I'll install an electric windlass with a few hundred feet of chain, but for now, in the cruising areas I'm in, I think my "poor man's manual windlass" will work just fine.

DPower: For this system, I only have 20 feet of chain. 100 feet obviously wouldn't work coz it wouldn't go around the jib winch. I meant that if I buy an electric windlass I would then install 100+ feet of chain.

Actually I think this system will be MUCH safer in a storm than a manual windlass, because during all the high-forces times, I'm back safe in the cockpit, and not up on a pitching, rolling bow with rode, chain and anchor all just itching to snag me and drag me through the pulpit.

Safest, however, would be an electric windlass with a remote control....unless of course, it's broken. I think that needs to be factored into the risk/reward equation.

Stu: You mean why would I ever run out of fresh water? ...or why install a watermaker?

Hi, Stu.

Because I'm far away from any dock and I'm trying to keep all saltwater off the boat and out of the inside of the boat, simply so that all the hardware and electronics will last longer.

This boat has been in freshwater most of its 30 year life and it has no corrosion on it and I want to keep it that way if possible.

Apparently that's one of the reasons sailors buy watermakers, which I plan to purchase soon to keep the tanks full, thus giving me all the freshwater I need for the above.