Electric Keel Winch Santana 21

Posted By: Tom Hathaway "Wanda Round" El Cajon, CA
Date: 8/25/07 10:01a.m.

Report: outside forum guidelines

In Response To: Power Winch (Desertsailor (Lou) Laguna 26 Lake Pleasant, AZ)

Thanks, eveyone for the kind words. I'll try to answer all the questions at once. 1) I use a Harbor Freight 2000lb winch - $69.95. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92860 It can often be found on sale for $49.95. 2) For power, I use a Harbor Freight Emergency Jump Start System - $84.95 http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?function=Search It can often be found on sale for $59.95. 3) I like the idea of keeping the keel lifting electrics separate from the boat's house electrics. I have this vision of Wanda Round floating at the launch ramp and me unable to raise the keel for loading because of a dead battery. The $49.95 Harbor Freight winch doesn't have a mechanical back up. 4) On the practical side, I've only been day sailing (so far)and that means one keel lowering and one keel raising per day. I haven't put a stop watch on it but the lowering time is 6 seconds max and the raising time is another 6 seconds max. Total winch time: 12 seconds per day. I probably shouldn't be worried about killing batteries - but I'm going to keep using the separate 12-volt power pack for the keel winch anyway. 5) There's no clutch on the winch but so far I haven't needed one. I gingerly tap the "up" and "down" buttons on the winch's remote and stop when I hear the gentle "thump". Then, I back the cable off one "tap". The winch speed is only 2-inches per second so it's not likely to get away from you. 6) I'd like to see photos of Lou's winch powered mast raising set up. That's my next project.