For a long time we hauled our anchor the hard way — long lines, chain hooks, and the sheet winches. Pure muscle. Pure stubbornness.
Once our electrical refit reached a good stopping point, we finally upgraded: a Maxwell windlass, 400 feet of 3/8" high‑test galvanized chain, and the very long (and very expensive) battery cables needed to power it. But before we could install any of it, we had to deal with the sneaky mess in the deck.
The balsa core was soaked.
So we tore it open, removed the mushy core, and rebuilt it with marine‑grade plywood fully encapsulated in about 3/8" of fiberglass. Slow, messy work — but the only way to make the deck strong enough to handle a real load.
Once the new deck fully cured, we mounted the windlass on a little additional fiberglass pad, ran the cables, and cranked in our fresh new chain!
We went from arduously hand hauling the hook to a solid, modern anchoring system built on a deck we trust. Totally worth the effort.
Much loved and much used now!
