Windless installation with high Bulwark/Gunnel Rail

I have a CT42 Mermaid that I will be installing a horizontal windlass onto. The problem is that the anchor sits out on a rising bow sprit and the deck is below a high bulwark/gunnel rail. It's such that from the anchor roller to the deck is a 17" drop within 6 ft anchor chain run. That's about a 15 degree anchor chain angle. The max the windless specs for chain grab is 5 degrees.

Is there a better way to mount the windless other than my current plan of building a wood pedestal ~ 12" tall mounted to the deck and putting the windless on that?

If cut a hole in the bulwark to pass the anchor through, the anchor will still be sitting high on the bow sprit and have to come down through that bulwark opening. If I drop the anchor down &/or closer to the haul, the anchor and chain will risk hitting my "Mermaid" on the bow and fowling on lower bowsprit cables running to the haul.

 

Welcome to the Forum Tom.

I am wondering if it would be feasible to have the anchor suspended in a roller under the bow sprit, and out at the end of the sprit?
The cable could then pass through a hawsehole aperture in the bulwark (which has a roller as well, to reduce friction re the chain rubbing against the hawsehole) on it's way to the windlass?

 

Ship size


Need some kind of fairlead to move the chain down before the winder.

Wish I could point one out, but basically, you need a fairlead at the edge of the high spot to keep the chain off the deck/bulwark/etc and another at the front of the winder to meet the 5%.

this is a commercial type and the directions may need to be different, etc

Welcome to Deena Marine http://www.deenamarine.com/fairlead.html

 

This is hack advice, but one of these on top of a chafing plate and run the chain under it..not sure how this affects the deck, but you might need another one if the chain rubs from this one ahead of the winder

Lewmar Universal Stainless Steel Fairlead Anchor Roller https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1%7C2276108%7C2276122%7C2304756&id=934340

Imtra also makes a really better delrin wheel. This one might catch the chain in the odd groove, etc

 

Alongside the bowsprit may be the best location.

 

Welcome, looks like a nice boat.
Your windlass situation is quite common on boats with high bulwarks/bowsprits.
Perhaps some info is being misunderstood?
In a horizontal windlass the important issue is the amount of "wrap" on the chainwheel.
Your figure of 5 degrees is the horizontal deflection allowed each side of direct alignment when looking down at the installation.
But yes, 17in. drop is a lot, probably/maybe too much to get more than a link or two engaged with the wheel.
In Westsail 32s it was common to mount the windlasses on top of the bowsprit just forward of the bitts.
The depth of field in the pic makes it a bit difficult to judge the scale of things.
A side view from slightly above, might make it easier to visualize an installation.

 

As an aside: As sailors we toss around terms that are more-or-less understood by fellow sailors but are often incorrectly used.
In traditional ships the hull planks at the garboard, sheer, and usually around the waterline were/are called "strakes" and were made thicker due to the need for more "meat" for fastenings.
The ones around the waterline were thicker to allow for years of scraping barnacles off without reducing the thickness too much.
The planks between the strakes are called "Wales".
In ships of war the bulwarks were built quite high to offer some protection to the gun crews, (merchant ships generally had lower bulwarks to make cargo easier to work).
The top and bottom planks, (for increased fastening were called "strakes" again, as in Bulwark Strakes.
The planks between the strakes were called Wales, just as in the hull.
However, a couple/three of the Wales needed to have cut-out sections in them for the gun barrels to protrude out.
Those 2>3 planks were the "Gun-Wales", what we toss out as "Gunnel".
I know, it's not a very important issue in todays nomenclature but I find such things interesting.
Don't get me started on the various ways modern language has butchered the meanings of various rigging terminology.