You are missing the main point...arthritis. This is a disease that can
cripple your hand...I know...my hands are slowly slipping away. Therefore,
the windless is a necessity to safe boating and not a toy. On my trip to
Venezuela, I saw all kinds of screwups by people who professed to be good
boaters. I just wanted to point out that, it is paramount to control your
boat at all times during this critical phase of movement. How many times
have I seen the wife driving the boat through the anchorage with the anchor
dragging the mud while the husband is struggling on deck to hand pull up the
chain. It is paramount to get that anchor up and stowed...QUICKLY. If your
health is so poor that you can't get the rode and anchor up by hand, make
the investment...manual or electric. We can get into all kinds of "what if"
here...this is just one of the most common I have encountered. It is just
not a good idea to toss out a bad idea where bad boater can try it out. You
sound like a good boater
As to your problem about breaking out the anchor in the last few feet,
I cleat the chain and slowly drive over the anchor to break it out.
Bruce
Bruce:

Same thing could happen if you were pullin up the anchor by hand or
even with a windlass. In fact, windlasses I have seen are damned
slow.

My real intention was to break the anchor the last few feet when it is
really stuck. I rarely anchor by other ppl anyway.

What happens if Bruce's windlass fuse blows ath a critical moment? My
system aint got any fuses so seems more reliable. I dont consider a
windlass to be proper equipment, its just another gadget waitin to
fail.