Hooking up the windlass :) (Patreon)

Hi guys!

It's been a somewhat frustrating week aboard Athena. Mainly because the package with the bulk of our canvas and reinforcement material never showed up but also, I'm slightly annoyed with Lofrans. I don't know about all their products, but when it comes to the Tigres windlass and the THEIS 7003 wireless remote, there are some low-hanging fruits in terms of product improvements. I would love to see an updated version of the Tigress with more room inside the motor cover (running 35 mm2 is very close to impossible, at least on the 24V, 1500W version). Integrating a chain counter in the windlass and gypsy would be nice. Having a way of mounting the receiver for the wireless remote (THEIS 7003) seems like a no-brainer. Honestly, I don't know what they were thinking - they don't even include double-sided tape with the kit. The instructions and manuals are long overdue for an update. A quick example. Nowhere in the manual does it mention how to wire the three-pole motor to the solenoid box so that the buttons function correctly. Yes, it's simple to try and then switch the cables, but that is information that should be in the manual. I'm a little disappointed in Lofrans and can't help but feel that they are coasting on their name and reputation being well known. Am I being too harsh? 

On Tuesday, we're driving down to the Selden Factory here in France and picking up our new baby. A Selden E40i electric winch. We saw one aboard Cadoha when we were in Southampton. It seemed pretty dang spiffy - it's the only electric winch I've seen that doesn't have the motor protruding into the boat. The good crew aboard Cadoha got one sponsored by Selden and hooked us up with their contact at Selden. I do think this falls into the category of a luxury item, but I am excited about it for a few reasons. For instance, by mounting the winch on the cabin top, it looks like we can get a fair run of almost all our lines in the cockpit to the E40i, potentially including our headsail sheets. I think that might be nice because we can't make a full revolution on the headsail winches with the sprayhood in place. It could be a faster and easier way to do the bulk of the winch work. We'll see :) 

I hope you've had a fantastic weekend :) Thank you so much for your support! Stay safe :)