Sailing SV Cordelia · video

What this video covers

The Lewmar V5 2000-watt windlass on SV Cordelia, a Venus 46 ketch, failed after 13 years of service while anchored off Soper's Hole, Tortola, in the British Virgin Islands.2:15 The motor spun but the gypsy and drum did not turn.1:57 Steve spent four days extracting the gearbox — a stainless-steel-to-aluminium bond had seized the assembly — before discovering the worm-drive gear teeth had completely stripped.5:24 A failed internal seal had allowed water, mud, and chain silt inside the gearbox, where it acted as grinding paste and destroyed the gears over time; a rusted-away circlip confirmed prolonged water ingress.10:16 The keyway Steve had hoped to replace with spare keystock was irrelevant — nothing remained to repair or bodge.10:41 Lewmar UK provided little help sourcing parts; a replacement motor-gearbox assembly was eventually located through a company called Cactus Navigation and ordered duty-free into St. Martin.11:35 With the windlass dead, Steve manually winched 40 metres of chain and a 40-kg Rocna anchor aboard using a mast-mounted Anderson winch, with Annette and Gus managing lines and the boat drifting into the fairway during the operation.14:37 The practical lesson: even a well-maintained windlass can suffer catastrophic internal gear wear if its seals fail and chain mud enters the gearbox undetected.

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