Installing and Wiring in the Powered Winch

The winch body is installed here. I had to lop off the ends of two bolts for clearance on the flange.

Next the shaft coupler is installed.  You can see one stud temporarily installed in the top of the picture. The blue and red wires are for the control circuit.  I still have to run those wire.  It occurred to me that I can pull power from the heavy cable and likewise ground and put a 5 amp fuse in this circuit. I wonder if I'll need a choke to avoid power surges.  I may run the wire back to the panel but that seems unnecessary.  

I used locktite on the eight studs.  I was missing four flat washers with notches cut out.  I will have to get four more tomorrow and grind the edges to clear the flange.  I don't suppose flat washers are necessary, but I might as well be consistent.   The white thing at the top is a relay (Solinoid) to control the heavy current going into the motor gearbox.  The control wires are not yet wired in.  The motor gearbox has a pair of wires also--a thermal protection circuit which is wired in series with the switch.  There is a spacer in there too.  I could move the whole motor gearbox up 1/8" if I wanted to go to the trouble, but it does not seem to be worth my time.  I also like the idea of a little space between the motor and the deck.

Another view looking forward.  I will need to fabricate a fiberglass cover for this to keep things pretty.  I mounted the powered winch on this side to avoid head bump.  It is right over the sink and not in the way.

This shows the view from the bottom.   Those are red cables from the battery and 100 amp breaker supplying juice to the motor gearbox.  This is a windlass motor gearbox, so, of the three studs on the motor, only two are used, lift and ground.  I need to figure out which is which. 

This will make a number of jobs easier.

1.  Measurements:  Taking Measurements for replacement rigging.

2.  My Backstay:  I want to pull my backstay to fix a very poor job done Tom Anderson of Hathaway Riggers.  I hope I can re-terminate it myself. I will probably bring it back to Tom Anderson even though the job was done many years ago.  While it is true I waited too long to return it, it remains a very poor job and I may have to do a lot of rework to make it right.

3.  My Forestay:  I want to build a new forestay and install an already purchased, Harken furler.  Once that is done, I can think about a new headsail.  I will probably modify my current Genoa, but I'd also like a new Yankee for better visibility.  The option of hoisting both while sailing downwind has a certain about of appeal. Much less work and I'd only need another spinnaker pole for a tidy, non-chafing rig that would keep ECHO pointed downwind without a lot of work.

4.  Inner Forestay:  I want to replace my inner forestay and install a Harken furler on that.  I have a used furling drum and only need new extrusions and the small piece parts to install that.  I want a small self tending staysail, so once this furler is installed and I determine where and how to mount a track for this.  A self tending staysail will make tacking upwind a breeze for one person. 

5.  Jumper Stay:  I seem to have lost the small wire cable that connects my Highfield Lever to the bow of my boat.  It is a short cable, and I might as well practice on that before working on the other stays.