Anchor Windlass and Depth Sounder

MONDAY

On Monday morning Arnold and I visited the foredeck with the simple plan of moving the anchors, chains, rope, back into the chain locker. While the area was still empty I asked Arnold to turn on the anchor windlass power switch in the cockpit so that I could test that the syatem was working by stepping on the foot switch at the bow. It didn't work. "Now why did that not surprise me?" I remarked.

We spent the next two hours systematically checking each section of wiring and both switches. The result reduced to: (1) Arnold proved that the winch, motor, and solenoid were working correctly by supplying 12V directly to the solenoid, but (2) Although the normal wire to he solenoid showed 12V on the multimeter, the voltage plunged to near zero when it came in contact with the solenoid, at the same post that we had used in (1). We had changed two sets of connectors in the process and noticed lots of corrosion in the multi strand wiring, which was not tinned to marine standards, so Arnold's best theory was high impedance (resistance) due to corrosion in the wiring.

The cockpit anchor winch switch is a convenience that comes at some significant costs: (1) The cockpit toggle switch is exposed to the hazards of rain and sea water (2) A long cable run is required between the forecastle and the cockpit, with sections running in the bilge (3) Diagnosis is a pain because the difficulty in accessing the cabling and cockpit switch. To access the back of the cockpit switch we must spend 30 minutes emptying the quarter berth.

Arnold's suggestion that we move the cockpit switch to the forecastle started a discussion that has resulted in what I think is a good plan. There is a second switch panel that I installed on the forward cabin bulkhead that currently has 6 free switches. Our plan is to move the switch to that panel, resulting in a much shorter run across much more benign terrain than the bilge. We plan to used proper marine grade tinned wire.

We also plan to change a curious anomaly of the current wiring. At present one of the wires to the foot switch is always "hot" because it is from the battery positive terminal. The foot and cockpit switches are used to close the circuit. It did not seem to me a very good idea to have a permanently active wire regardless of the setting of the boat's master switches in an area subject to total flooding with sea water. What a perfect medium for leaching out power and probably ruining the anodes. Arnold redesigned the circuit and it will be the "hot" wire that will pass through the switch panel, meaning that when that switch is off there is no electric power at the foot switch on the chain locker.

I don't see a big problem in having the anchor winch switch inside the cabin rather than at the cockpit. I usually know when I will be using the electric winch. In any event it does not take much time to dash into the cockpit to flip the switch. The advantages justify the move.

TUESDAY

We started off the day with a visit to Downwind Marine for the wiring (marine grade 12 AWG), connectors, and some shrink tubing that we did not used. We spent the rest of the day inplementing the plan that we had put together on Monday. I ran the wire from along the upper stringer of the starboard side, drilled a hole to pass it into the area behind the drawers. I then drilled a hole from the wet weather closet on the other side into the area behind the drawers and passed the cabling to the back of the switch panel inside the aft bulkhead of the wet weather closet. We left a loop of 3 ' of cabling behind the drawers. At dusk we tested the system by crossing the wires at the foot switch and everything worked fine. However, when we connected the wires to the foot switch we could not get the windlass to turn. This was consistent with Arnold's previous finding using the multimeter. I removed the foot switch and disassembled it.

The foot switch is a simple affair: There is a short metal rod held up by a spring. When that rod is pushed down by somebody's foot it forces a stainless steel washer across two posts made of brass, thereby making the connection. The entire thing is protected by a flexible rubber cover. When we took the switch apart we discovered that one of the brass posts and the area of the stainless steel washer above it were hopelessly corroded with thick layers of bright green corrosion. However, mechanically the switch was in sound order, which was not surprising since I had replaced it in New Zealand.

As darkness fell Arnold went to work cleaning up the switch while I made the cabin habitable again by restoring everything to starboard quarter berth. Then I dashed out in the night for a couple of foot-long Subways ("Phillie for Arnold, Roast Beef for me).

WEDNESDAY

It was raining. Too bad, but the show must go on. Arnold had done a great job on removing the corrosion and had reassembled the plunger part of the switch. Inside the cabin I put the rest of the switch together using Silicone sealant to back up the rubber seals. The switch looked like brand new. During a lull between the showers I dried out the wood around the foot switch opening with paper towels as best I could then laced it with rubbing alcohol hoping that it might somehow chase out more water. After another bout of drying paper towels I used the 3M sealant to bed down the footswitch. Two of the 3 screws were stripped so I replaced them with the next size up. We connected the foot switch and it worked beautifully: turning windlass with minimal pressure of the foot.

The rain returned just after I finished that job so we turned our attention to the new Raymarine ST60 depth sounder. There were precise instructions on how to use their patented transducer housing to achieve the correct vertical angle of the transducer. However I could see right away that there was a gross oversimplification: that the hull of the boat simply angled toward the keel in a "V" fashion. In that section the hull also slopes up toward the bow.

I would need a spirit level. I was sure that I had packed a short 6" level with my tools but try as we might we could not find it. I was making preparations to walk to Downwind Marine to see if they had one when Arnold suggested that I call John. I left a message for John and within 5 minutes he called back. He had a 2' level that he knew would be too long for working in the bilge. However, he had a line level that we could mount on a short piece of wood. Ten minutes later I met John at the club gate and he presented me with the line level and several short lengths that might be useful for supporting the line level. That line level with the short piece of aluminum bar turned out to be perfect for the job.

It took me well over an hour to position the transducer housing at the correct angle. If I began by aligning the base athwartships as instructed when I rotated the upper part to yield a vertical angle on the port-starboard axis I would get a result where the transducer would be pointing too much forward. Once the base was set at other than athwardships rotating the upper part would change both angles at the same time. The trick was to find the correct combination or orientation of the base upper part. Working in the dark confines of the bilge in an exotic position worthy of a Yoga master made the job harder. Eventually I had the angles with the floor of the bilge appropriately marked.

I then retrieved the plastic battery case that holds my fiberglassing materials and was pleased to find everything there: epoxy resin, hardener, thickener, acetone, some fiberglass matting, etc. In the paint supplies container I found masks, disposable rubber gloves, brushes, mixing containers, etc. (Finding what you need when you need it is the payoff to sailing around the planet with the entire stern of the boat crammed with parts, tools, and materials worthy of a small hardware store.)

I sanded the target area then cleaned it with acetone while preserving those indispensable pencil marks. Then I mixed the epoxy and got on with it. After the transducer housing was satisfactorily bedded down I took the remaining epoxy and visited the chain locker. I filled in a neat round drill hole about 3/8" in diameter that I had discovered in the roof of the chain locker on the starboard side. This may be the remains of an earlier cable run but it was without a doubt a choice candidate for the pathway of the big leak that we had discovered during the previous week. When the boat is beating on a port tack (heeled to starboard) water could easily slosh into that corner and find its way into that hole. By then the expoxy was curing fast but I managed to seal several other minor but suspicious areas. (I play to treat the rest of that area with Sikaflex of 3M 5200 sealant.)

It was dark by the time I finished tidying up the boat and I was exhausted and hungry, probably because I had eaten only one slice of bread all day.

Fortunately Arnold did the catering that night. It was too rainy to go out for food so the did a nice rice 'n beans with carrots and an onion. Since he had cooked I started to wash but he said that he would do that too. While he was washing our port tank ran dry which meant that we no longer have to drink and cook with colored water. (The green rice looked strange.) Arnold finished the washing job using a container of emergency spare water.

I was so tired that I amazingly gave up a chance to watch Jay Leno and was in the sack at 7 PM.

The accompanying photos are of the partially disassembled foot switch, the new hand switch in the cabin panel (marked "anchor winch"), and the transducer base epoxied in place. The last two photos show the finished product with the level on both axes: spot on athwartships, slight bias forward.