Some of you may be aware that we had to saw out the old one in the
course of trying to service our antique Lewmar 1000 vertical drum/gypsy
windlass (follow the link in the sig - and follow the comments on the
first page - to see what's up with the refit).

So, we are in the market for a (similar) replacement. We've had the
opportunity to review the survey of Seven Seas Cruising Association
members on the subject.

After replacement of the rotted substrate and repair of the surface, we
expect installation to be pretty straightforward. Our boat is 45' LOD
with fairly substantial overhangs fore and aft; it's got a design
weight of 33000# and an anticipated real weight closer to 40k, after
final loading and provisioning.

We currently have a 20kg Bruce, a Chinese knockoff of same design and
weight, forward, both all chain, and a 34# Fortress with mostly rope
rode. We'd sort of like to move up one grade in anchors, but it's not
a critical event at this juncture in our refit.

Unfortunately for us, our boat appears to be right in the middle of the
high or low end of most of the various different classes of vertical
windlasses available, at least based on boat length. Having had a
replacement motor in my hand at the local WM Bargain Center, I agree
with the assessment of the Lewmar Sprint series, which is that they're
not worth having.

We also know that prices vary all over the map; what is quoted on one
site may be double that of another. So, "street price" is what matters
in the end.

So, given a gypsy/drum arrangement on a vertical windlass with a chain
pipe (automatically feeds the chain below), and a street price of under
or very close to $2k, who's replaced theirs recently with something
like that, and what's been the experience?

Thanks.

L8R

Skip, rehabbing (well, waiting to rehab) and champing at the bit to get
back to refitting

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2 - the vessel as Tehemana, as we bought her

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain