Anchor Remote Control

Windlass and bow thruster controls

Anchoring a sailboat correctly requires using portions of both science and art. The only topic in sailing that I can think of which provokes as much heated discussion (which is a polite euphemism for "arguing" and "fighting") as anchors & anchoring is when it comes to the monohull and multihull worlds colliding. One of my favorite pastimes in busy anchorages, particularly in the BVI where most boats in anchorages are chartered, is to sit back and watch anchoring antics. While I've not seen any physical blows during this exercise, I am fairly confidant that several marriages have started to go awry during husband and wife anchoring maneuvers.
Anchoring for me, alone and without the anchor remote control at the helm, is a bit of a chore and involves going forward and aft a couple of times; I managed to break my toe during one such exercise (see the St. Barths page for the full story). Purchasing and installing the remote control for the anchor windlass came about as a direct result of that painful interlude and it certainly makes life a lot easier for me; my next step will be to augment the equipment with a chain counter so that I know while still at the helm how much chain I've let out or how much still needs to be pulled in. At the moment I just estimate how much chain I've let out or pulled in and do the fine adjustments from the bow with the manual control, which is attached close to the windlass itself.