On swivels, the "jaws" connect to the chain. On the anchor shackle, the pin goes in the anchor shank.

Cable ties mark the anchor rode length. The first 15' of chain has a black cable tie mark. This 15' length helps to "automatically" account for the 5' height of the bow over the water (minimum 3:1 scope). From this point, the anchor rode uses white cable ties to mark every 25' from the black mark. At 25' there is one white cable tie, at 50' two white cable ties, three white cable ties at 75', and four white cable ties at 100'. The pattern starts over again for each of the next 100' sections.

The Fortress anchor rode has the same markings, but white cable ties for ≤100' and black for >100'.

The rope joins the chain with a chain splice as outlined in the windlass manual. At the bitter end, I put in an eye splice, which connects via orange paracord to a wood block in the anchor locker. Just before the eye splice are four black cable ties to warn me that I'm at the end. The paracord is long enough so that if I need to cut it, it will exit the hawse pipe above the windlass.

I bought the chain from West Marine (2026). Their Acco part number is 500193083, which is different from the 500140501. I contacted Acco for clarification and they said that the two numbers are the same chain, though the West Marine chain is stamped "WM4". The chain I received had the West Marine number, but stamped "G4". Go figure.

(Working load limit is one-fourth the breaking strength)

Simpson-Lawrence S-L Seatiger, model 0055590, serial number 1076079 (rebuilt 03/2000). Gipsy is RCB70. Gipsy will work with 5/16" BBB, 5/16" Hi-Test (G4) (optimized for this), and 3/8" BBB. Rope must be 5/8".

To grease it, use a waterproof marine grease like that used in boat trailer bearings (available West Marine).

For painting the case, strip off all metal, clean it, coat with a primer suitable for aluminum, then paint with a spray enamel.

Chain stripper is bronze and will seize in the aluminum case casting. Liquid wrench may free it. If not, try to punch out from bottom or drill it out. New chain stripper available from Simpson-Lawrence. I drilled out the hole oversized so that it won't seize.

A previous owner added a baseball bat to the end of the standard S-L 605520 handle to get more leverage. I kept that (stored in the starboard cockpit locker on shelf) and bought stainless steel bar stock (McMaster-Carr 8992K507) as a replacement. The handle is 36" x 1¼" x ¼". This is much longer than the standard handle to make it easier while working with the windlass. A few inches up from the bar's bottom, I inserted a screw to prevent the handle from going too far into the spindle.

I added a backing plate under the windlass. I back-filled the mounting holes with epoxy after removing the rotten wood. (03/2000)

The grease fitting may be 1/2"-20 thread (McMaster-Carr 1095K101).

The hawse pipe hole in the windlass appears to be a 2" x 2.375" rectangle with 0.9"radii on the corners.