I’m often accused of carrying an anchor one size too large for my boat, usually by whoever gets stuck with dropping or raising it. I’m guilty as charged, and make no apologies for it, because when I drop the hook, I like it to stay where it’s dropped, and there’s nothing more frustrating than having to reset a dragging anchor again and again.

Here in the Florida Keys, we anchor almost every time we go fishing, either to catch bait on the way out, or when fishing a wreck or a particular patch of reef that looks promising. In other parts of the world, you may never drop the hook at all. I often check out the anchors on the bows of boats in marinas, and judging by the shiny hooks adorning many of them, those boats have never ridden an anchor rode.

But whether you anchor a lot or a little, having the right equipment aboard will greatly simplify the procedure and make it less of a burden, and something you might therefore consider doing more often. In south Florida, the anchor ball serves as the anchor retrieval device of choice for many smaller cruising and center consoles, especially those of us whose teenage sons have moved on to college and are therefore no longer available for manual labor.

The anchor ball system is the low-tech anchor retrieval solution—it consists of a medium-sized Polyball attached to a short piece of rope with a stainless steel ring on the other end. The stainless ring goes around the anchor line when the anchor is deployed, and a stainless clip holds it shut and keeps it attached to the Polyball. When you’re ready to haul the anchor, the helmsman steers the boat in the opposite direction from where the anchor was set.

The Polyball slides down the anchor line on the ring until it is directly above the anchor. The momentum of the boat dislodges the anchor, and it rises to the surface as the boat continues forward, eventually lodging the anchor chain and the shank of the anchor in the stainless ring. With the anchor floating just under the surface beneath the Polyball, it’s then a simple matter of pulling the anchor rode across the surface and lifting the anchor and chain into the boat.

This system works well and is remarkably effective, but it has its drawbacks: first, you must always carry the Polyball around with you, wasting precious storage space, and second, you still must haul the rode in by hand. That can become a real chore in rough water, or when you’ve paid out a great deal of rode to anchor in deep water.

The modern windlass offers a much more practical and technologically advanced alternative, and like many other types of nautical gear, windlasses have rapidly become common equipment.

Windlasses come in several configurations—you have to decide between a vertical or horizontal model, and you must decide if you need a gypsy, a capstan, or both. The least complex windlass consists of a simple drum, called a capstan, around which you take wraps with the rode. The revolving capstan hauls in the rode, but you must stand next to the windlass and coil the rode as it comes off the capstan.

A windlass with a gypsy automatically retrieves the rode. The gypsy is a mechanical device that physically and firmly grasps the rode and the chain and hauls it back to the boat. Note that windlass gypsies must be used with specific sizes of both rode and chain, so always follow the manufacturers recommendations.

A horizontal windlass has a capstan or gypsy that’s horizontal—parallel to the water’s surface and the electric motor driving the windlass is typically above deck. This clears more space in the anchor locker below for rode storage, so the horizontal windlass offers the best performance for boats with limited storage space. With a windlass equipped with a gypsy, the anchor rode enters the gypsy and makes a 90-degree turn, feeding directly into the anchor locker through a hawse pipe.

Many skippers consider the vertical windlass to be more aesthetic since it offers a lower profile, with the electric motor belowdecks. In gypsy-equipped models, the anchor rode makes a 180-degree wrap around the gypsy before entering the hold, providing a more secure bite on the rode. Capstan models can be either vertical or horizontal, and many models come with both a gypsy and a capstan, offering great flexibility.

You need to consider how much ground tackle you need to carry and how much storage space you have in the anchor locker when considering a windlass, and you must also choose a windlass that’s appropriate for your boat. When considering what size to buy, take the total weight of your ground tackle (anchor, chain, and rode) and multiply it times four—that will tell you the pulling power you’ll need, and it’s always wise to build in a little buffer.

Next you must consider your choice of rode and chain. Three-strand nylon is undoubtedly the most common choice in anchor rodes because it’s cheap, it’s strong, and it’s resistant to abrasion, but it may not be the best choice when using a windlass and gypsy. Three-strand nylon gets stiff when used in salt water, and it tends to kink when you try to lay it into a locker, forming loops known as “hockles.” These hockles jam windlasses when deploying and retrieving the anchor, causing unnecessary headaches, plus three-strand needs about 16 inches of “fall,” the measurement of open space between the top of the anchor locker and the top of the pile of rode, to work well.

To combat these problems, many manufacturers recommend using “8-Plait” line, a tighter weave that resists kinking and coils much more easily. A recent document from Lewmar touting the virtues of 8-Plait lists the following advantages:

• -Plait will not get stiff when used in saltwater.

• -Plait will fall into the locker as long as there is a clear and free space under the hawse pipe.

• Plait will not get stiff enough to where the line wants to stand up and not enter the locker.

• -Plait will not loop over on itself and creates loops or hockles.

• Plait is 30 percent more effective in smaller lockers.

• Plait requires only 8 to 10 inches of fall to work properly in a hands-free operation.

It’s important to point out that the rode must always be tied off to a cleat when the boat is anchored, relieving pressure on the windlass and preventing damage to the rode. If you let the weight of the boat ride on the rode as it comes out of the windlass, the rode can be pulled tight into the gypsy and cut. Windlasses aren’t made to hold the boat while at anchor.

You have lots of windlass options available these days, including models that pay out line slowly through the gypsy, and those that allow the anchor to free-fall. You can choose from several different operating switches too, including helm switches, remote controls that plug into a sealed plug when needed, or foot switches mounted close to the windlass.

Options are good, but no matter which style you choose, definitely consider a windlass if you haven’t had one previously—it will open up a whole new dimension to your boating experience, and it’s one of those pieces of equipment that you will never again be without once you’ve experienced the benefits.