Windlass

[MaxumNewbie]

Anyone know of any good windlass systems for under $1200. Anchoring manually is getting to be a pain in the ass.

[seapuppy]

lewmar makes a good windlass's...i have one on my boat ....really is great but sometimes a pain in the butt........but overall....a good thing to have on a boat 28 ft or better......

[MaxumNewbie]

well mines a 23 but when im out in the ocean and I want to anchor and I have 3 foot swells its kind of hard to get to the bow to drop and even more so raise the anchor, especially since i dont have that rail in the front to hold onto.

what is the pain in the ass about the windlass? isnt it just a motorized anchoring system?

[seapuppy]

well...the pita part is even though I have a locker for my line..when I activate the down button to extend the anchor...sometimes the anchor sits there on the roller...so...I have to go out on the bow and push it off....once it's extended ..this it pays out as normal....sometimes the breaker pops..there is such a huge electrical load that when I hit the botton to extend...the breaker pops...so mine is in the sink locker..(why they put it there I'll never know) ..so reset the breaker...run back onto the bow...hit the down button and push the anchor out.....continue to pay out the rode till it hits bottom...have the wife put the boat in reverse to set the anchor and then..finally..relax.....it doesn't happen everytime..but when it does happen...it's always when I don't need that kind of gymnastic's.........
if the anchor had more of a downward angle..it probably wouldn't be a problem........hope this helps.....the lewmar's are really good units....I wouldn't hesitate telling people to get one of those....but the way mine was installed makes it difficult to trouble shoot sometimes.... :wink:

[mmccaslin]

Seapuppy, do you know the model number of your Lewmar? I'm going to add one? Also, what are the chances of my '02 2700 being prewired? I think it would be very difficult to get the wire pulled from the locker to the sink and to the cockpit!

[seapuppy]

not sure..but I will check to see what model I have....I think pre-wire is an option when they ordered the boat....if not...running a wire all the way up can be done easily enough....specially on the port side....but I'll check and see what the model number I have is and get back to you...

[seapuppy]

k..did some checking and this is the unit I have...
works great and should be a fairly easy instl...
http://en.lewmar.com/products/index.asp ... page_id=10 (http://en.lewmar.com/products/index.aspx?lang=1&page_id=10)

I have the V700 windlass....
hope this helps..

[mmccaslin]

Do you have the foot swithces or the handheld remote? Thanks for the info.

[seapuppy]

I have 2 ft sw's...and a dash switch...the ft sw's are located to the port/fwd of the windlass.....they have rubber covers and a plastic flip down cover......the reset breaker/relay is located under sunbridge sink(doesn't seem like a good spot..but it works)....

hope this helps..