Hallelujah, the foredeck anchor windlass has been shipped and bolted in place.
It really requires a midget with the strength of a Goliath (wearing steel toe cap shoes) to move the thing. We have a Goliath in the shape of one Shaune Blight (the skipper) but the nearest we could find for a midget, actually he drew the short straw, was yours truly!
To fit the monster entails first of all manoeuvring it into position over the holes in the deck and on to its wooden deck supports (that’s where the toe caps come in, to drop the thing on to a foot would seriously hurt!) Next step, crawl into the forepeak, one shoulder at a time, turning around when half in and then twisting on to ones back drawing the other shoulder and leg in at the same time. Now lay under the bolt holes in the deckhead and insert bolts whilst trying to fit washers and nuts, all the time having mastic dripping on ones head from above. All of this process by the way being conducted in the pitch dark.
Next manoeuvre, swap spanners as the first one did not fit in some of the recesses in the deck beam. To avoid having to extricate ones whole body a right arm could, with difficulty, just reach a spanner handed down the companionway from above.
The mission was eventually accomplished after a certain amount of bloodshed and now that this large piece of “ironwork” is in place, it will, hopefully, not need to be removed for several years.
Anon.
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