That was kinda my point (poorly made). If you approach the gage
necessary to do a good job charging the "forward" battery properly,
you are dangerously close to putting in cable appropriate to running
the windlass. A trickle charge *forces* you to use the battery almost
exclusively.

That is the theory of the forward battery. It is trickle charged and is
used exclusively to run the windlass with no fallback. That is why
just taking the plunge and laying in the heavy wire is the better solution
in many instances. If one is going to go to the trouble of installing a
windlass then wiring it properly is part of the project.

Doug
s/v Callista