Trojan Boat Forum

My concern was about wireless remote at the bow usage.... other than for simple retrieval, where I don't see the advantage of being at the bow anyway, in most other cases retrieval requires boat positioning along with rode retrieval at the same time.
So that means it is a two person job or the singlehander must have boat control and windlass control at hand.
Why I prefer those controls to be at the helm for single handling and when crew is available they go to the bow to do the signalling and washdown.
Am I missing something with my idea of retrieval from the helm position?
I appreciate that my usage is both controls from the bridge as my ancient installation does not have bow controls... but I don't see how it can be clearly improved by having the bow person using the controls??
With my system the bow person signals boat position and raise/lower anchor.... in fact most of the time it is rode position only when I can't see it and to halt retrieval to remove stuff from the rode/chain.
Now headset communication certainly beats the manual signals we use... I would add that feature before adding windlass control at the bow.

Hi Larry,

My wife and I spend most weekends at anchor so to make life easier, we installed a "Horizon 400" windlass from Simpson-Lawrence. This unit is well suited for this size boat and is fairly inexpensive. The control is located at the helm so I have control of both the boat and anchor while my wife stands up on the bow with a washdown hose to wash it off when the anchor comes up. The anchor is a danforth, which sits in a pivoting bracket, and is attached to 15ft of chain with 150ft of rope.

If I had to purchase a new one, I would consider one with a free fall option as opposed to the power up and power down. This would enable more accurate anchor deployment on windy days.

Hope This Helps.

you do it your way i'll do it mine. doesnt make it right or wrong. but its nice to be aware of all alternatives when someone posts a question. that what i look for on this forum are all ideas are welcome

Paul wrote:If I had to purchase a new one, I would consider one with a free fall option as opposed to the power up and power down. This would enable more accurate anchor deployment on windy days.

Good point... certainly removes the need(if chosen) to keep the power on during those situations and deflects any risk of running over the rode!

g36 wrote:you do it your way i'll do it mine. doesnt make it right or wrong.

I wasn't suggesting any other way was wrong... I was looking for reasons why anchor control (without boat control) at the bow had advantages.
In the end there is no point doing anything in a way one is not comfortable with!

I want to thank each of you for all the input you have provided. It has helped a great deal. Making my decision won't be easy. Things I will take into consideration are, I can anchor in less than 10 ft of water with little or no current, I am, for health reasons, unable to pull much weight, I have a low budget. I will be reading your comments over and over to help make up my mind and proceed from there. I am working on a pulpit, so perhaps I need to start saving up for that windless?

Thanks again to all of you. You are very kind to go to the time and trouble of making your replys.

Larry

larglo wrote:Things I will take into consideration are, I can anchor in less than 10 ft of water with little or no current, I am, for health reasons, unable to pull much weight, I have a low budget.

Larry, upon looking at all factors of your situation here is what I would suggest.<ducking> Use a 10/15 Lb mushroom anchor off the aft deck.
Based on your info. that you are in shallow calm water and on board all the time I think it will work fine.... it is certainly the cheapest and easiest way to go!

Save your money and don't bother with a pulpit... as it would require more $$ to extend the railings too. If you do end up going the windlass route why not consider the kind of roller system that bolts right onto the bow as I suggested in a prior message.

For the time being, at least, that is what I will do. I've had the Trojan almost two months, but have been working on her most of that time. Only had her out of the slip once during that time, so not much practice doing much of anything with her.
I'm sure as I gain more experience and if the money comes along I will go for the windless with the remote even if possible.
I have a 24' x 10' slip at present which is a tad to small for a boat 9'4" wide. I hope by the end of this week I will be moving her into a 30' x 12' slip, giving me more room to make mistakes getting her in and out of the slip.
Thanks
Larry[/list]

I went with a three pointed pooper scooper. Here's a pic because I don't know what else to call it. When anchoring in the river where the water is flowing and the bottom is muddy, it seems to dig into the goo a little better.


When diving one time, I found a nice Danforth anchor that I keep onboard just in case we get caught in some slop and really need to hold. Also, sometimes I throw the other anchor off the back to keep it from swinging around when on the hook near other boats.

Hi JuiceClark,
Looks like some sort of containment wall at the bow and stbd side of your slip at your dock. I'm not familiar with this and curious what it's for.