On Thu, 20 Jul 2006 20:36:19 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On 20 Jul 2006 18:22:01 -0500, Ruskie wrote:

The art of maneuvering and
anchoring must be reduced to the push of a button.

It takes little or no skill to 'even circumnavigate' with that stuff.

With all due respect, that is utter BS. Any time you want to test
your skills by pulling up my 120 lb anchor with 3/8 chain and a big
glob of mud on it, be my guest.

Do you have a row boat with a 12 lb Danforth and light nylon rode?

An unskilled cruising couple considers the electric windlass to be
safety gear. And to them, it most certainly is.

My elderly parents use an electric windlass. They need it. As does the
person with no anchoring skills, who will also carry different types
of anchors with massive amounts of heavy chain so that he/she may drop
it anywhere at anytime. This allows him/her to let loose right on top
of pristine coral heads without worrying about chafe. Or on top of the
few remaining kelp forests, as another poster in this group proudly
proclaimed just a few strings up.

As a diver, I can tell you that anchor damage is an unmitigated
disaster. But more to the point, the use of an electric windlass is
one of the major contributing factors to the dumbing-down of cruising
sailors world-wide Followed by the "autopilot".

Still, if I had a bad back I would get an electric windlass, and I do
have GPS. So I'm no purist.

The point that Ruskie makes is that most cruising sailors are totally
unskilled. And that is a FACT.