Hi John.
My Eclipse had an old Lofrans Cayman which has a cleat on top which I found very useful. A few years ago I replaced it with a Tigris which I chose as it also has a cleat and a 1500 watt horizontal windlass so it is all above the deck. I wanted the grunt as when you want to pull the anchor up, sometimes you have to just get it done. Having a rope capstan is also useful. I have foot buttons for up and down by the windlass which I tend to use for raising the anchor, and a remote control at the helm which I tend to use when anchoring.
As there is also a bow thruster it made sense to me to fit a battery in the bow. This does put extra weight in the bow, but has a few advantages. There are short runs for the heavy cables from the battery to the thruster and windlass so lighter cables can be used which are not only cheaper but easier to work with. The battery is charged by a 12 volt to 12 volt automatic charger, so when the house bank gets about a certain voltage it charges the bow battery, and when the voltage drops it cuts out. This only requires light weight cables to be run so that’s another advantage.
In practice the battery charger does the job and the bow battery is always charged enough. I often lower and raise the anchor without the engine running which is not a problem.
Running control cables from the windlass control relay to the helm was torturous but well worth it as I often sail singlehanded.
Running cables from the windlass to under the bunk really requires the side panels in the forward cabin to be removed which was a pain, but other than that it’s a fairly straightforward job.
I think the Eclipse 33 is a great boat, a good choice.
Regards,
Paul.
