My lovely wife and I were out in the Kingston area and anchored overnight in one of the recommended bays for first timers like us.
We thought we had a good location, about 15 ft, plenty of room, good leeway for dragging, and perfectly calm weather overnight growing to 10 kts mid morning.
All went well until we tried to retrieve the anchor. The wind didn't help, but we're a good team, and she drove the boat well while I tried to hand retrieve the anchor.
We brought up a small bush of weeds; so much I couldn't get the anchor fully onto the bow roller before cleating it off.
It was a very close thing, as I almost wasn't able to get the chain, anchor, and probably 15lbs of weeds on board. For this area I'm being told there are a LOT of weeds.
I did what I could to pause, cleat the rode/chain off and clear the weeds as I brought it in but the sheer weight of it all and fighting the winds meant this was the absolute worst experience anchoring the boat we've ever had, and I think it's a safety issue.
The drum windlass that came with the boat, won't work for us. IMHO, it's a ridiculously unsafe system for a boat this size, to handle any conditions. If you don't have weeds, like we didn't in the past its workable I guess. We also have a 35lbs Mantus, 5/16 chain which I acknowledge adds weight.
I've been reading over the threads
https://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,9609.30.html and
https://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,11188.msg88997.html#msg88997.
I have a few questions:
1 - is it the VW10-8 or RC that is a better choice?
2 - Is this a direct replacement wiring wise. I noted some people up rated the wiring. (I'm trying to keep this simple)
3 - It looks like a spacer is needed as per Noah
https://c34.org/bbs/index.php/topic,11188.msg88997.html#msg88997. Any suggestion on how to make one or deal with the offset differently? I could probably get something 3D printed locally if I knew the spec.
4 - Up/Down functionality. I would prefer a hand held wired in the locker as a Primary, wireless as a secondary. Any suggestions on what would work for a wired, and wireless setup?
5 -Breaker changes?
Bottom line is I need the machinery to retrieve the anchor and I manage it. It's physically demanding, and IMHO unsafe so this is something I need to address.
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