P42 Windlass problem
Bill, I also would like to see some better answer to the problem. If you check the archives, you'll see a thread I started about a year ago. I went into detail on the issue. I have cruised about 25,000 miles on my P42, from California to Mexico, throught the South Pacific to New Zealand, and back again. I'm leaving again in a couple months on a similar cruise, this time for about five years or so. Nobody could come up with anything reasonable for a solution. I carry a 60 lb. CQR and 350 feet of 5/16" chain rode. I found the Maxwell 700 to be underpowered, and replaced it with the Maxwell 1200. The capstan receptacle had a different bolt pattern than the old one, so I had the old one machined to take the larger diameter mainshaft of the model 1200. The additional power is necessary for those emergencies when you need to have the horsepower on the windlass. (E.g., 30K winds and 4 foot swells with a reef behind you, finding yourself wrapped around coral heads). I stand up at the unit and hand-tail the chain as it comes off the cathead. I would also love another solution, but have never found one. This is, in my mind, the weakest point of the P42. But it is not bad enough to cause me to replace my boat. Very close, but not quite. I certainly hope somebody comes up with a better idea this time around, but I'd be surprised. It's just a very weak system. On another point, I agree with you that a smaller forward water tank is acceptable. I have a watermaker, and I keep my aft water tank full for emergency purposes. I make about 5 to 10 gallons of water on a daily basis (depending on whether or not my wife and I have a third and fourth crew member on board at the time) and put it in my forward tank. We just decided that we didn't want to shorten that forward bunk, and therefore didn't create a straighter drop for the chain.
