Windlass Replacement Part 2 - Finishing the Mess

our brand-new windlass

After all the preparation and wood work was done I could finally start adapting the electrical stuff. Which meant pulling another 18 feet of heavy wires into the boat. A few hours and 200 Dollars later the wires have been placed. Just changing the main breaker itself took more than an hour due to the very limited space - and I was confident to get it done in 20 minutes or so... Just tightening a few screws, right?!

pulling heavy wires into the boat

changing the main breaker...

new main breaker

Every windlass has a solenoid, basically a remote switch to turn the windlass on and change the direction. And of course the new solenoid didn't fit into the existing space! So I had to construct an additional panel to mount it on which then had to fit on the existing wood bracket which was glassed on to the hull of Habibi. I used some Corian out of a scrap box since it's superior to wood as it can't rot away.

new solenoid on Corian panel

electrical wiring connected but not yet in place

I was almost two days working in that damn anchor locker. Mounting cables and making new connections - a nightmare. Don't ask me about the heat, I used constantly a towel to prevent sweat running into my eyes...or maybe tears?

for sure there are nicer and cooler places on a boat...

But the heat outdoors was almost as unbearable as the one inside the locker! I screwed the three 12Volt wires with each 50mm2 to the windlass - easy. To close the damn thing with the cover - almost impossible!! Only that took me 30 minutes under a lot of swearing, sweating and almost breaking either a wire or a screw - in the last moment Rahel could prevent me from throwing the whole windlass into the sea...

12V wires mounted on windlass

impressive sized wires - 50mm2!

now "just" put the cover back on again...

Phew, somehow I managed it and then I only had to seal everything. 

cover back on windlass, preparation done for sealing

sealing

The new windlass passed the first test and it seems to be working as it should. We wait now for some stainless welding to get the anchor stopper higher....promised to get it tomorrow 3pm GMT -  (Grenada maybe time)...