Wednesday 6 February 2013

Old guys rule...

We've recently stripped down, and put back together, our wonderful Simpson Lawrence windlass, a SL500 model no less and believed to date from the early 50's. It's a massively solid and comforting piece of kit with a cast iron case, two speeds, three pawls and five grease nipples. The handle we use to operate it is about a metre long and raises the chain on both the push and pull strokes. We've never bothered with the low gear, have no idea how many feet per minute we raise but love its simplicity, ruggedness and lack of frills.


Ahead of the windlass can be seen the swivel we inserted into the system to try to get the anchor to come up toward the roller in the correct orientation. Doesn't always work and we may not keep it there but you can see, in the photo below, that the swivel is NOT attached directly to the anchor. I've lost count of the number of boats I've seen where swivels are attached in that way; despite the numerous accounts of the damage done to the swivel when an anchor, buried deep or caught on a rock is unable to move sideways and the forces splay the swivel side walls. We use a short length of 12mm (1/2")chain to connect the swivel to the anchor.


We had an "altercation" with someone on line recently who accused us of being massively over the top in terms of the weight of anchor (33kg) we use for the size of boat. Well perhaps in his terms we are; but then, unlike him, we don't have the safety net of a home - Hannah represents everything we own and the only insurance we have is for 3rd Party i.e. if we wreck your boat our insurance will cover your damage but ours is down to us. On top of this of course, Hannah is very heavy, not because she is a ferro hull but simply because this is our home and we live aboard on a full time basis. The 700 books (no exaggeration) 1,000+ paper charts, cast iron wood stove and all the provisions etc add up to a lot of weight. Although our fuel tank is small at 60 litres we carry an additional 180 litres or so in jerry cans. Likewise water. I do remember when we were last pulled out in the UK, we'd stripped the boat of most things, no books or charts for instance and both masts, booms, gaffs and all sails had been removed and we still weighed over 16 ton (35,000lbs or well over 16000 kgs) Add to all that weight the windage of two masts, served rigging, baggy wrinkles and 1500 feet of running rigging and Hannah adds up to a wonderful target for wind and waves when we're at anchor. So we use what we feel is the best insurance possible - a heavy anchor with a rock solid manual windlass. It may not appeal to everyone and, it seems, nothing brings forth the arm chair pundits as much as anchoring threads on forums but this works for us.

20 comments:

  1. I thought anchoring was simply a matter of getting the biggest, most effective bit of ground tackle you can afford and digging in to the best spot you can find on the sea bed and then putting out a generous amount of scope bearing in mind tide / other boats. Although I have heard it said that dark grey / charcoal anchors set quicker than lighter / silvery ones but don't hold as well as green ones....

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  2. I guess it's the "effective" bit that raises the hackles..

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  3. Hi guys, I know this is an old post but I'm following a trail of bread crumbs and thought you might have some info. I also have an old sl500 windlass which love. As it happens its sitting on a double ended ferro gaffer as well. My girlfriend and I are just about to leave on our first extended cruise and I wanted to get a second anchor chain. The links seem to be 3/8" but are shorter than any chain I can find info on. Just wondering if you've bought and new chain or can shed any light on the issue?
    Thanks for the blog its helped me through a couple of winters now :)
    Rich

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    1. Morning (well it is here) - apologies for the delay in getting back but not sure I'm going to be of much use. I've just checked our chain (not new but s/h and not much used when bought)and the links are 48mm long x 35mm wide x 10mm. How does that compare with what you have?

      I have had a number of SL500 owners write since this was first published so perhaps they could chime in?

      Drop us a line with your boat, plans and possible destinations and we'll keep an eye out for you.

      Best

      mbt

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  4. We have an SL 500 manual windlass in pitch-black as well on our 26 ton gaffer, and it's the most reliable piece of kit we have on board, An old-school workhorse, but old-school works and gives me a good workout. But I have to admit that I am looking for an easier way to hoist the gaff main than by mere hands, rope pulling & body weight...

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  5. Hi just discovered your pages, beautiful adventures. I have just purchased an old sl 500. Problem is it does not seem to ratchet. The gypsy and drum run freely and there seems lots of old Grease but when cranking the handle to and thro nothing happens...any suggestions or is there a manual to help me try and service it....cheers and keep up the inspiring information, safe sailing....

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    1. Hi,
      It sounds as though the pawls are not engaging the ratchet? If you look through the gap at the top you should be able to clearly see a pawl at the top and another at the bottom of the ratchet as the windlass operates on both forward and aft stroke. You can strip it down, clean it all up and reassemble without too much difficulty...Don't know of any manual but perhaps I'll get around to doing a series of pics as a separate post. Thanks for the kind words too. Another though - make sure the bronze "handle" on the brake is screwed tightly home. Let us know how you get on.

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    2. Helpful advice, thank you. Yes the Pawls are not connecting I thought it might be missing some springs but I will try taking it apart and clean. Cheers. Just reading voyaging on a small income and your posts remind me of that timeless simplicity.

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    3. I just recently salvaged a SL 500 off a boat being cut up here in San Rafael California, which is just North of San Francisco, and the Pawls'do not engage either, i'm not the brightest bulb in the marque, but certainly not the dimmest, have cleaned the monster, and there is no damage, i do not see any way to adjust the apparatus, and do not see how taking it apart would change anything, its driving me crazy, i wish to sell it,but it must be in working condition, before doing so, any help is appreciated. On another note, i have acquired a Gaff rigged Ketch, Mahogany on Oak, a Spray design, built in San Francisco in 1991, dimensions the same as Slocums Spray, though the cabin arrangment is not the same, displaces 15 ton, having owned four Marconi rigged boats before, starting with a Vertue,Yawl,Ketch, and Sloop, i find the Gaffer a wonderful change, and a bit of a challange, but sailing on San Francisco bay in the Summer time with her [Water Witch], is quite interesting, as with the lower center of effort, i do not need to reef down, as the Marconi's need to do, anyway, if anyone is in the market for this windlass, you can contact me thru my email, and i have no idea what its worth, any ideas ?. Allfernow, Doug Tiffany. My address

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  6. Doug,

    Not sure what you mean by "cleaned the minster" BUT if the pawls are not engaging you will need to strip it down and free them off. If you don't want to do that you could try sitting the complete unit in diesel/kero and seeing if that'll work but if you want to sell it as a working unit then strip it down. Good luck

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  7. Love this post / blog - it’s like the SL500 owners club : ) Mine (also a minor love affair) is in bits ready for another full repaint & re-grease as I write... btw - the lovely Dave Webster at Deep Blue engineering in Millbrook, Cornwall made me a new gypsy to fit the chain I have. Considerably cheaper than buying a whole lot of new chain. I’m quite sure he’d be happy to advise on other matters as he rebuilds these and others. Cheers- happy anchoring!
    Sim.

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  8. Hi Sim,

    Yes we're very fortunate to have Dave down the road from us and his work is a joy. I posted a pic of one of his windlasses some time back having wandered into his shop looking for an answer to something else. Stunning.

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  9. Perhaps I’m mistaken, but I think we met a few weeks ago... my wife and daughter and I were looking around at Southdown and I think we chatted about an Inchcape that was having some planks replaced??? If so - small world indeed! We’ll be on a swinging mooring in the area next spring so we’ll come and say hi and compare windlass notes : ) If it wasn’t you- ignore my ramblings!

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  10. You're right and also about the Inchcape which I was a tad vague about! See you next spring.

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  11. I bought a 50 foot steel schooner last year with an SL500 on it that I'm sure is original to the boat ('73) and I'm happy to find some others who have these. Mine functions smoothly but the chain skips so badly I can't use it. So that has to change! The lead is not ideal, about 90 degrees over the roller but I can't change that easily (would have to fabricate/weld atbleast 2 new rollers). The gypsy does not look particularly worn. Chain measures 3/8 x 1 1/4 x 2 inches. It seems to fit in the gypsy alright by visual inspection, maybe a little to small. Not sure if they made different size gypsies for these but I can't find any available now and there's not much info about these. Do I just need bigger chain or is the lead angle the problem?

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  12. Difficult to say - we're not experts or even engineers but... You could try different size chains if you've got folks around you that are happy to help out (once the virus has cleared through presumably)but it might be the main cog is very worn and any pressure, say raising the anchor, causes the cog teeth to slip which might appear as though the chain is slipping. Have you dismantled it and checked the main cog? I think there is a tendency for the cog to wear on one side more than the other (ours has)and we sometimes get a jump when we're anchored in deep water. I'm making assumptions; schooner and imperial measurements, that you're in the US? There is a local guy to us (UK), Dave Webster, who can cast new cogs if that is the problem. On the lead, the chain is probably coming from below decks up to the roller and turning through 90 degrees and going forward so can't see that as an issue. I believe they did make different size gypsies for this windlass but 'fraid "what you see is what you get" unless you're lucky enough to find something. Any chance you could send pics to our email address (on Contact Us page)

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  13. many SL500s have a "door handle" cleat on top. Both of mine have a circular post. Are these older, newer or just different?

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  14. I wish I knew but all I can say is the '50's SL catalogue I was given years ago shows the 500 with door knob rather than door handle but don't know which precedes which.

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  15. Hey guys! Awesome posting! We just installed this same windlass but are unable to find much info so your posting was helpful. One thing we haven't figured out is how to disengage the clutch so she can freewheel in dropping anchor? She works great and lifts the anchor smoothly, but we had to feed the chain out manually to anchor. We unscrewed the bronze wheel to starboard and tried pulling gypsy out a bit to disengage like other so models, but no luck. Thanks for any help you can give!

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    1. Hi, Apologies for the slow response.

      When you undo the 4 pin locking piece the clutch should automatically move away from the body allowing the chain to fall freely. If it doesn't it could be the clutch is rusted in or the spring (have you checked there is a spring) is damaged. The clutch can rust if the windlass is left in raising mode ie the locking piece is not kept undone for, say, the winter.
      These are remarkably simple pieces of kit so a strip down and overhaul is well worth the effort.

      Do let me know how you get on.

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