T&T: Anchor Chain Recommendation

[Faure, Marin]

According to Webster, a gypsy winch is a small winch, which may be
operated by a crank, or by a ratchet and pawl through a lever working up
and down.  In logging, a gypsy drum is a winch drum where the line is
not attached to the drum but is manually spooled (tailed) to control the
line movement on and off the drum.  The term wildcat comes from
railroading where it means running without control; running along the
line without a train; as a wild-cat locomotive.  Which is what the chain
drum on a windlass does if you let it freewheel out.  A windlass is
defined as a device with a horizontal spool for pulling in or letting
out line.  A capstan is a windlass but with a vertical spool instead of
a horizontal one.

Obviously these terms have been adapted and modified by the marine
industry over many years.  And there are probably regional differences,
too.  I have never heard anyone in our area call the wildcat on a
windlass anything other than "wildcat" unless they didn't know a
nautical term at all and called it the "chain wheel" or "chain drum."  I
have heard commercial fisherman refer to the line drum on a windlass,
including windlasses with both a line and chain side, as the "gypsy" or
"gypsy drum," same as in logging.  I've also heard a line drum referred
to as a "capstan" even if it was mounted horizontally.  And it's
probably safe to say that the majority of boaters refer to the thing on
the bow that pulls in the anchor rode as the "anchor winch" even though
the terms windlass or capstan are technically more correct.

Somewhere in some Raiders of the Lost Ark warehouse there is probably a
formal definition of all these nautical terms but since nobody knows
where the warehouse is located, let alone which crate holds the
definitions, it probably makes the most sense to use the terms that are
most commonly used in your area.  Which is why if you say "gypsy" up
here, most boaters will either not have a clue what you're talking about
at all or they will point to the line drum on the windlass.  We don't
have a windlass with a combination chain/line drum on our boat but most
of people I know who do still refer to the drum as a wildcat because of
the chain section despite whatever term the manufacturers' use.  And
remember, whatever terms are in a manufacturer's catalog are put there
by the marketing folks, not necessarily by someone who actually knows
anything about boating :-)   But again, most boaters seem to simply call
a combination chain/line drum the "winch."

My wife and I have picked up the terms we hear the commercial fisherman
in our marina and the local yard using, so we call the chain "drum" on
the starboard side of our horizontal shaft windlass the "wildcat" and
the line drum on the other side the "gypsy drum" or just plain "gypsy."
The more experienced boaters we've used these terms with seem to know
exactly what we're talking about.  They might not in some other part of
the country.

______________________________
C. Marin Faure
GB36-403 "La Perouse"
Bellingham, Washington