Anchor windlass repairs to extend its life

José-Maria Molina extends the life of his ageing anchor winch

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I bought my 2004 Bavaria 38 in 2017 and it came equipped with a 1,000W Lofrans Cayman windlass. During that first summer of boat use, I noticed the glassfibre platform supporting the anchor windlass was cracked. Every time I raised the anchor, the whole assembly would move, making the deck feel unstable.

I decided to reinforce the base in the simplest way possible. I cut a shaped glassfibre plate to match the original, including the angle. I took care to preserve the bolt hole in the same place as well as the opening where the chain drops into the anchor locker.

Once prepared, I glassed the new plate onto the underside of the existing base.

Two years later, in 2019 corrosion on the windlass base had become a serious concern – I suspect the damage was caused by saltwater pooling around the base.

So, I disassembled the windlass, machined the bottom of the body back to good metal and fabricated a thick new aluminium base to replace the metal machined off and act as a protective barrier.

An anchor windlass on a boat

The Lofrans Cayman windlass on the bow of José-Maria Molina’s Bavaria 38. Credit: José-Maria Molina

This also gave me the opportunity to change the oil and inspect the windlass thoroughly. The beauty of this aluminium base was that it could be replaced again if it wore out… and that’s exactly what happened six years later.

Last year, in 2025, corrosion on my replacement aluminium base was once again significant. The fact that I hadn’t had it anodised for protection probably accelerated the degradation.

Thankfully, since the base was bolted directly to the windlass, replacement was again straightforward.

This time, I made a new base from Arnite (PET-P), a high-performance engineering plastic resistant to saltwater. I also added a stainless steel backing plate for extra support underneath the deck.

With this new setup, I hope to significantly extend the life of a windlass that is already over 20 years old.

Strengthening the deck – step by step

A cracked boat deck underneath an anchor windlass

Credit: José-Maria Molina

1. The underside of the cracked and sagging deck, seen from below inside the chain locker.

A piece of glassfibre

Credit: José-Maria Molina

2. A thick, precast solid L-section of glassfibre would act as a beam to strengthen the lip of the chain locker.

An L-shaped piece of fibreglass on a boat

Credit: José-Maria Molina

3. The glassfibre L-section cut to shape with holes drilled and hawse pipe cutouts ready for installation.

bolts on a boat

Credit: José-Maria Molina

4. Nuts and washers on the windlass bolts helped draw the L-section up tight against the deck above.

Machining a new base – step by step

the bottom of an anchor windlass

Credit: José-Maria Molina

1. The bottom section of the alloy windlass casing had become extremely corroded over time.

Bottom of an anchor windlass

Credit: José-Maria Molina

2. Machining the corroded base of the windlass casing back to solid metal.

Plates for an anchor windlass

Credit: José-Maria Molina

3. New solid plate alloy base was fixed to the bottom of the windlass body with pan-headed Allen screws.

Bottom of anchor windlass

Credit: José-Maria Molina

4. New studs were screwed in so the windlass could be bolted back to the deck.

Switching to plastic – step by step

An anchor windlass removed from a yacht

Credit: José-Maria Molina

1. Once the windlass was removed, the corrosion of its new (ish) base plate was very evident.

Back plate for an anchor windlass

Credit: José-Maria Molina

2. A new plastic base plate was fabricated and bolted to the underside of the windlass.

wires on a boat

Credit: José-Maria Molina

3. The original rubber gasket was cleaned up and slipped over the new base plate.

A stainless steel backing plate

Credit: José-Maria Molina

4. A new stainless steel backing plate spreads the load and adds strength under the deck.

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