Which windlass is best?

[Jon57]

2 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:

used to own some clogs, my shins still wince

Good lad. Get the ground rules in early for a happy marriage.👍

[LadyG]

2 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:

Problem is that unless you go hunting for one the windlass of your choice probably isn’t readily available.

 

As for never letting it go I don’t think that works for single handing. Perhaps if you use a belt loop but I prefer not to have a windlass about me at all for some operations.

 

What I usually do is to tie the windlass in a bowline in my long centreline and sling it round my neck, it's a system that works as long as the boat is waiting patiently at the ladder. 

I could contact Shire Cruisers, or just buy a Dunton off eBay. I have two spares, but neither are user friendly.

I'll get my massive long windlass out which has four  options and weighs a  heck of a lot. There is a standard spare as well, but it has a revolving handle.

Edited March 20, 2023 by LadyG

[Ray T]

3 Dunton's on eBay at the moment, not cheap, an incentive not to lose them?

 

dunton double for sale | eBay

Edited March 20, 2023 by Ray T

[LadyG]

12 minutes ago, Ray T said:

3 Dunton's on eBay at the moment, not cheap, an incentive not to lose them?

 

dunton double for sale | eBay

They are no longer made, proper quality, a nice thing to have.

The boat which came along behind me had not picked it up, so I don't know where mine went, some dog walker maybe.

I usually hold on to it, or even better get someone else to put me through!

Edited March 20, 2023 by LadyG

[Annie cariad]

Got a selection I dredged up last year £5 each .What is it you actually want 

[haggis]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

They are no longer made, proper quality, a nice thing to have.

The boat which came along behind me had not picked it up, so I don't know where mine went, some dog walker maybe.

I usually hold on to it, or even better get someone else to put me through!

While I appreciate that a Dunton Double is a nice thing to have I thought you were looking for something which would make working locks easier for you . Will a Dunton Double do that? 

My money is still on a Go Windlass which although a bit more expensive will make working locks so much easier for you. In the hope that if I ever lose mine it will find its way back to me, I have my boat name and mobile number on it with the modern equivalent of Dymo tape.

Edited March 20, 2023 by haggis

[IanD]

1 hour ago, Hudds Lad said:

I have visions of little old Maureen gripping your device and rotating like a catherine wheel at the lockside

 

Like Gromit in "A Grand Day Out"? 🙂

 

 

 

[LadyG]

1 hour ago, Annie cariad said:

Got a selection I dredged up last year £5 each .What is it you actually want 

Too late, I've ordered the Dunton, vanity rules. Thanks anyway. 

I keep a spare, or in this case two spares.

Edited March 20, 2023 by LadyG

[Jon57]

52 minutes ago, haggis said:

While I appreciate that a Dunton Double is a nice thing to have I thought you were looking for something which would make working locks easier for you . Will a Dunton Double do that? 

My money is still on a Go Windlass which although a bit more expensive will make working locks so much easier for you. In the hope that if I ever lose mine it will find its way back to me, I have my boat name and mobile number on it with the modern equivalent of Dymo tape.

They don't fit the square spindles on the hydraulic paddles unfortunately. 

[IanD]

4 minutes ago, Jon57 said:

They don't fit the square spindles on the hydraulic paddles unfortunately. 

 

Surely hydraulics are the one paddle you don't want a long/ratchet/geared windlass because they're very low effort, you want a shortish windlass so as not to wear your shoulder and arm out with the incessant turning... 😉

 

Also glad to see there seem to be fewer of them nowadays, they were dangerous if you ever got hung up and wanted to drop the paddles in a hurry. DAMHIK... 😞

[LadyG]

2 minutes ago, Jon57 said:

They don't fit the square spindles on the hydraulic paddles unfortunately. 

Which windlass, which paddles?

:

:

It would be nice to have something easier to use, but I don't often do a lot of locking, so I went for something a bit special, there will be no more made in the future. 

[Jon57]

1 minute ago, LadyG said:

Which windlass, which paddles?

:

:

It would be nice to have something easier to use, but I don't often do a lot of locking, so I went for something a bit special, there will be no more made in the future. 

Go windlass 

[LadyG]

3 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

Surely hydraulics are the one paddle you don't want a long/ratchet/geared windlass because they're very low effort, you want a shortish windlass so as not to wear your shoulder and arm out with the incessant turning... 😉

 

Also glad to see there seem to be fewer of them nowadays, they were dangerous if you ever got hung up and wanted to drop the paddles in a hurry. DAMHIK... 😞

Ah, are these hydraulic paddles as on the C&H, looks like an outsize clockwork casing? I did see some twin pipes running between the mechanism and the paddles.

Edited March 20, 2023 by LadyG

[tree monkey]

15 hours ago, LadyG said:

Well, I left my original windlass at a lock yesterday (on the C&H), and it's gone!

So I'd like a Dunton double,  the standard throw looks nicer in the photos on eBay, but would I be better with the longer throw, the Dunton Double Plus?

I don't do many locks, but my hands are a bit sore after yesterday's herculean efforts.

 

It's windlass breeding season, you didn't put it down you were told to leave it by a randy windless, often this suggestion is actually rather subtle so most people don't realise it's happening.

 

The life cycle is rather long and many years pass between breeding cycles but it just needs to accepted that your windlass is now entering a less settled period in it's life, interestingly some will spend some of this time living an aquatic life often, but not always, at the bottom of a lock, or at least near a lock, many are lost on a long pound unable to find a mate.

 

This is a fairly dangerous period for windlasses, many are lost to rust forever after breeding but thankfully sufficient get found by the magnet fisherman that they can return to the more settled time on someone's boat, until of course the call to nooky is heard again.

 

[magnetman]

Granny gear. 

[IanD]

6 minutes ago, LadyG said:

Ah, are these hydraulic paddles as on the C&H, looks like an outsize clockwork casing? I did see some twin pipes running between the mechanism and the paddles.

 

Yes, like those -- there used to be a lot more of them, the ones that nearly sank us were on the GU... 😞

Edited March 20, 2023 by IanD

[haggis]

43 minutes ago, Jon57 said:

They don't fit the square spindles on the hydraulic paddles unfortunately. 

I know but we don't encounter many of these and I just use another windlass for them .

[Mad Harold]

14 hours ago, LadyG said:

That's exactly my rule whenever I'm locking, but the boat had a mind of its own and decided not to align with the ladder, so I put the windlass down on the grass to sort it out, scrambled on board, retrieved the centreline, and exited with the assistance of some chance passers-by, so I did not have to close the lock gates.....

Being singlehanded most days I generally call it a day after three locks, but they were particularly obdurate.

I think I'll get a belt loop. 

You can make one quite easily from a length of rope.

Simply tie a loop big enough to accept the windlass, but small enough to prevent it slipping through.

Tie the rope ends together with enough slack to go over your shoulder and hang the windlass about hip level over one shoulder to the opposite hip.

I have used a bought leather windlass holster, but it didn't last very long.

[Mike Tee]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

Too late, I've ordered the Dunton, vanity rules. Thanks anyway.

You won't regret it - somehow it just feels 'right'

[Jon57]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

Too late, I've ordered the Dunton, vanity rules. Thanks anyway. 

I keep a spare, or in this case two spares.

Don't forget to put something magnetic on the windlass so that you can retrieve it if it goes for a swim 👍

[magnetman]

I find the Dunton doubles to light. Do have two of them but not my favourite type. Very popular though to be fair. 

 

 

 

[alan_fincher]

3 hours ago, Ray T said:

3 Dunton's on eBay at the moment, not cheap, an incentive not to lose them?

 

dunton double for sale | eBay

But why on earth should anybody need well in excess of a month to delver a "pre owned" item like this?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285191997056?hash=item4266c48680:g:P4wAAOSwYipkDNx~&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAwK0oCbL%2FEeY9dw4Tb6wmk1BihIXI34FUvSnesWtnCGwVWNdENZ74ltJWvZMI4weWbKVnjMiIxFAHCafbwqmME2C%2BfhnVT1f1yOJiunm7uRKUYQv%2B9MUtdaYeEgZM0FQcjrQzLLWkD3Q6WibcC0xTbzK4FIf02ByagxRFh%2Fx4HOEhPIPPJjYLiWKSl2i30k70NjAMkiA71AJTxFX5rneYzcmKheWmLEUK1IXddOi9E64QZkFKu%2F%2BL0jbr1Q6WaoCUGg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR7DIrfTfYQ

[IanD]

1 hour ago, LadyG said:

Too late, I've ordered the Dunton, vanity rules. Thanks anyway. 

I keep a spare, or in this case two spares.

 

Where from, and how much?

[alan_fincher]

5 minutes ago, magnetman said:

I find the Dunton doubles to light. Do have two of them but not my favourite type. Very popular though to be fair.

 

And it is possible to break the head clean off them when tackling a particularly hard work paddle.  I've actually witnessed that, which makes me very nervous about applying very significant force to one

[magnetman]

3 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

But why on earth should anybody need well in excess of a month to delver a "pre owned" item like this?

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/285191997056?hash=item4266c48680:g:P4wAAOSwYipkDNx~&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAwK0oCbL%2FEeY9dw4Tb6wmk1BihIXI34FUvSnesWtnCGwVWNdENZ74ltJWvZMI4weWbKVnjMiIxFAHCafbwqmME2C%2BfhnVT1f1yOJiunm7uRKUYQv%2B9MUtdaYeEgZM0FQcjrQzLLWkD3Q6WibcC0xTbzK4FIf02ByagxRFh%2Fx4HOEhPIPPJjYLiWKSl2i30k70NjAMkiA71AJTxFX5rneYzcmKheWmLEUK1IXddOi9E64QZkFKu%2F%2BL0jbr1Q6WaoCUGg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR7DIrfTfYQ

On ebay it says "

Est. delivery Wed, 29 Mar - Sat, 1 AprEstimated delivery Wed, 29 Mar - Sat, 1 Apr

Or free collection in person from Bourton, Dorset"

Just now, alan_fincher said:

 

And it is possible to break the head clean off them when tackling a particularly hard work paddle.  I've actually witnessed that, which makes me very nervous about applying very significant force to one

I badly bent a Walsh alloy windlass many yars ago (2001) on the K&A and knowing how aluminium can behave it went for a swim. Thatcham.