On Sun, 6 Mar 2011 19:52:41 -0800 (PST), Frogwatch
wrote:

OK, I have not hauled my anchor in the last 6 months but then it was
not too hard (28' 8000lb boat). Am I missing something? Does hauling
the anchor (slowly) get that much harder as one gets older (I am 55).
Generally, I haul her in slowly allowing the boats momentum to do most
of the work until the rode is vertical. That is when it requires a
bit of pull. I also use 1/2" nylon rode with 30' of chain so I am not
hauling all chain.
Does it get that much harder with a larger boat?
In place of a windlass, why not mount an old manual winch on the bow
and use it to help haul it in?

Well, yes,it is a bit harder with a larger boat. Say something over 40
- 45' with 3/8 inch chain. 3/8th inch BBB chain weighs about 1.67
lb./ft. and say you are anchored in 30 ft of water. Being lazy you use
a scope of 3 x water depth so you've got about 150 pounds of chain and
say a 40 pound anchor in the water, 200 lbs. more or less. The current
is running at about 3 MPH, or 264 ft./minute, and your boat is
anchored 150 ft. off shore.....

As for handling the anchor on a smaller boat you can mount a vertical
spool winch on the foredeck and wind in chain or rope; run rope rode
back to the sheet winches or halyard winches. Or just put on a pair of
gloves and haul away. The vertical spool is much easier to handle the
rode with single handed.

For whatever it is worth I set out, some years ago, to make a 3 day
trip to Malaysia. We usually anchor out each night as islands abound
along the way. The first morning we got up, ate breakfast.... going to
get an early start and all. Hit the winch switch and it didn't even
grunt. Nothing. So I hauled the anchor in by hand... with frequent
stops to catch my breath and we continued on our way.

By the time we got back a week later my arms were an inch bigger and I
made damned sure to get the anchor winch fixed.

Cheers,

Bruce