As far as manual windlasses are concerned..... yesterday I watched (and
heard) a manual windlass in action. The conditions were perfect, hardly
any wind but it took the poor fellow almost ten minutes to bring up his
anchor. The sailboat was around 35 feet long and the depth was also about
35 feet.

In my opinion an electric windlass is as much a safety feature as well as a
great convenience. If the weather had suddenly turned or the boat was
dragging anchor or someone else was dragging anchor and about to collide
with the 35 footer above I think the poor guy above would have been hurting.

With an electric windlass you don't really have to think twice about
re-anchoring elsewhere or dropping anchor at one spot only for a bit of a
dive or other temporary activity. With a manual windlass (or none) you
would think twice about doing same.

My two cents worth...

Bert
S/V Guinevere



" Sir Gregory Hall, Esq·" åke wrote in message
...

If you require a windlass to retrieve your ground tackle then
you are restricted to 12 or 24-volt windlasses that, due to
the nature of 12 or 24 VDC current, need thumb-thick
cables.

Stupid, stupid stupid. Why doesn't anybody manufacture
a 120 or 240 VAC windlass so as to require less thick
cables strung the length of one's boat? A thick cable to
the inverter and regular house-type, 30-amp rated wires to
a 120 or 40 VAC windlass from a properly-sized inverter
would solve the problem.

Better yet, try downsizing your boat so as to not require
a windlass. Or, perhaps just a large manual winch on
the foredeck for those feebles with bad backs or weenie
arms?

--
Sir Gregory - fully of retrieving his ground tackle by
hand and arm strength alone.




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