Stupid!
I tried to do something pretty darned stupid this morning and, as a consequence, thought for a few minutes that I had broken the gearbox on the windlass.
Instead of leaning over the pulpit and taking off the chain hook that attaches the snubber to the chain I tried to winch the hook past the roller to make it easier to reach and remove. But the hook snagged the stem fitting and there was a sickening crunch before I could stop the windlass. The hook jumped off the chain but the gypsy on the windlass span freely and let out another few metres of chain before I had it locked off.
The soul searching began. What a stupid thing to do! On the good side we were in a lovely protected anchorage and the wind was forecast to drop so lifting 40 metres of chain and 45kg of anchor could easily be done with patience and perseverance. Sadly though we would be done with anchoring for this season and, if the gearbox was wrecked, the beginning of next season would be spent replacing it which is a hard task in the cramped confines of the anchor locker. I had to find out what I had broken.
With an armful of my favourite tools I sallied forward to the bow on a bright and sunny morning. A perfect day for boat maintenance! I whipped off the capstan and confirmed that the gypsy was rotating freely around the spindle of the motor but that the spindle would not spin on it’s own. That was a good sign as it meant that the gearbox must be OK and that it must just have been a sudden loosening of the friction break between gypsy and capstan that had caused the heart stopping crunch. I put everything back together, tightened the clutch and, to my immense relief, the gypsy span with the motor bringing the chain with it. Nothing broken after all!
Moments later the anchor was up with a huge ball of stinking, dripping mud and we were on our way north to Luke’s Arm where we would be able to anchor!
