Hardware

Anchors and chain for a night of Papagayo wind:

the gap wind that crosses Guanacaste in the dry season can blow hard for days in anchorages like Bahía Culebra and the lee of Cabo Santa Elena. Fluke anchors in the Danforth pattern dig deep into Pacific sand and mud but can skate over rock and may not reset when the boat swings on a wind shift. Plough and claw anchors such as the CQR, Delta and Bruce reset more readily, and roll-bar designs from Rocna, Mantus and Spade set fastest of all. A panga working rocky points carries a folding grapnel that can be tripped free of a reef. Whatever the anchor, chain keeps the pull low along the bottom far better than all-rope rode, and a nylon snubber takes the shock off the bow roller and the windlass when the boat surges.

Windlass gypsies and the chain that fits them:

a windlass only works with the chain its gypsy was cut for. Chain of the same nominal size comes in different link pitches, and galvanised chain sold by the metre for gates and hoists is not calibrated at all, so it jumps the gypsy or jams. Find the chain type marked on the gypsy or in the manual before buying either half second-hand. Lewmar, Maxwell and Quick build both kinds: vertical windlasses hide the motor below deck, horizontal ones carry it above, easier to service but wetter. Check the voltage suits your boat, 12 or 24 volt, and that the solenoid and foot switches come with it. Anchor alarms that watch the swing from a chartplotter sit under marine electronics.

What holds a cleat to the deck:

a fitting that takes a sudden pull is only as strong as what is beneath it. A cleat or stanchion base should be through-bolted with a backing plate, never screwed into the fibreglass, and one that comes off a boat without its plate needs a new plate made. Grade matters as much: 316 stainless stands up to salt far better than 304, and the bolts should match. Hatches and portlights from Bomar, Lewmar or Beckson are sized by the cut-out, not the lens. Fittings from US-built boats are measured in inches, so a replacement has to match an imperial bolt pattern unless you are ready to fill and redrill. Sealant for bedding them sits with boat maintenance supplies.

Where second-hand stainless gives itself away:

rust streaks running from under a bolt head are the warning. Stainless corrodes fastest where salt water sits without air, in the bolt hole and under the flange, so the hidden part is worse than the visible one; look at the bolts, not just the top. Bright chrome cleats are often plated zinc alloy, and once the plating blisters the metal underneath turns to white powder and can snap under load. On an anchor, check the shank is straight and look for the maker’s name, since roll-bar copies are sold unbranded and not all use steel as hard. Acrylic hatch lenses go milky and craze in the sun, and a hardened gasket leaks however good the frame looks. Run a windlass before paying: it should pull steadily without grinding, with no green crust on the terminals.

The measurement that sells a used fitting:

with hardware, fit decides everything, so measure before you photograph. Give the bolt spacing and base size for a cleat or rod holder, the cut-out for a hatch, and the chain size and gypsy type for a windlass, with a tape measure in the shot. Say whether it is 316 or 304 stainless, galvanised, aluminium or chrome plate, and admit it if you do not know. A skipper re-rigging a panga in Cuajiniquil before the Papagayos set in will not make the drive for a windlass on hope. Show a chain link against the tape and name the gypsy it came off, and you have answered the question that decides the trip.