Next job on the list - electric windlass

Finally, after many years of hauling rode, chain and anchor hand over hand, I have decided to install an electric windlass on Eidos. Here is an example of what another owner of an East Orient did on his boat:

 He added a beam in the center of the boat which provided support for the windlass so that the chain  and rode just drop down into the locker below. Looks simple enough. But his windlass is a manual model - Lofrans Royal. A new one costs only 550 Euros. 

After reading a lot about the benefits and drawbacks of electric v.s. manual and vertical v.s. horizontal anchor windlasses, I am drawn to a horizontal manual one. One of my constraints is a small anchor chain locker, so a horizontal windlass is better as it is mounted on deck and needs only 30cm (12in) distance from the deck to the top of the chain. 

The decision regarding manual or electric is a more difficult one: simplicity v.s. complexity and ease of use (when it works) v.s. dependability. Choices, choices.

Lofrans Royal manual anchor windlass

Finally, after talking to another owner of a manual Lofrans Royal who said if he had to make the decision again he'd go for electric (in fact he is planning to install an electric windlass next year), I decided to install the Lofrans Cayman 800 (1000 Watt) windlass.

It is bigger and heavier than the Royal, weighing 50 lb. but it seems to be the best choice for my boat. Bob, the carpenter prepared the foredeck by placing a thick piece of Iroco wood in line with the centerline of the boat, bracing it underneath in the chain locker and then trimming the locker lids. 

 Brian, the electrician connected all the cables which I stuffed inside a conduit and then through the boat: under the v-berth, under the floor boards, over the bilge, past the engine to the battery. That was a job in itself! It took three days for the carpenter to prepare the support (he had to cut away a fiberglass partition I had inside as well, two days for me to first lead the cables through the conduit and then place the whole thing in the boat. Finally it took 9 hours for the electrician to connect everything, including foot controls on the bow deck and a helm switch. Finally an hour to move the chain and rode to the quay and then pull it up and into the locker using the now working windlass.
I still have to test the whole system in a real anchoring situation.