"To: The South Pacific Team

About two years ago I purchased and installed a South Pacific 800 F anchor winch to my Southwind 580 boat.

Prior to this my wife Amy had been my "anchor lady".

I have found the South Pacific 800F to be very reliable, strong, and easy to use, and Amy is very happy. Our time on the water is now much more pleasurable because lifting the anchor is no longer a chore.

I wish I had thought of it years ago. How did we live without it?"

Doug Jones - Brookvale NSW 

"It’s been fitted to a Rayglass 2150 after we removed a Maxwell rc500 which had rusted out.

It runs well except we used the old rope which was a 8 strand but it will be fitted with the right stuff next week."

Kevin Philpott (NZ)

"I have had the Breeze 700 for some years now never had a problem. A great unit, many others in our town now have them without problems, feel free to email me. The service from South Pacific is second to none, great people with great communication and great products. Highly recommended. 

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it "

John

"I am very pleased with how my EC1000A electric capstan has performed pulling cray pots off the coast of Perth. Is has been used for 30 days straight and hasn't missed a beat.

Because the gunwhale width of my boat is only 85mm I couldn't mount the capstan in the normal way. By using the South Pacific accessory bracket ($50) and having a suitable mounting bracket custom made I was able to overcome this problem. The capstan sips easily into and out of the permanently mounted custom bracket. Using Anderson plugs enables the power cables to be easily plugged and unplugged. This means the capstan can be easily removed when the boat is used for rod fishing and social occasions.

The three year warranty is also appreciated, and together with the friendly helpful staff I have no hesitation in recommending this product."

Cheers,

Brian

"Your capstan is going a "Bomb". It’s fitted to my Manxman, a 23ft heavy fishing, diving, touring open boat with a forward cabin, and a Mercruser Inboard Engine, built in the Isle of Man, a populated island in the Irish sea.

I am delighted with the capstan, the boat is a bit heavy at 1.7 Ton and I have a good few miles up (69 years!). The boat is on a swinging mooring in a little harbour, Quilty, on the West of Ireland, My problem was mooring, I had to grab the mooring buoy with a boat hook, rush up to the bow and try to stop the 1.7 ton boat as it drifted away in the inevitable wind. 

It is so much easier now, I have a quick release clip (caribena), I can attach on a rope at the steering position and let it all go and the boat drifts back until it holds on the capstan. In my comfortable time, I can then use the rope and capstan to pull the boat back to the mooring and not only that but the capstan is powerful enough to lift the mooring chain, and hold it, while I attach it to the boat bollard. 

That’s precisely what I bought it for and it does the job admirably. 

I would frequently be on my own and pulling up to the mooring against the wind on this very exposed coast was becoming a bit much. It's no bother now.

Good luck for now and stay between the ditches."

Regards Mike (UK)

"Anchoring is so much easier. And while I've not spoken recently to the skipper of a boat moored nearby in the marina, it would seem he also has just installed the same winch, at my suggestion!

I fitted the 900M to the bow of my 10.4m timber cruiser with gaff rigged sails, adjacent to a large stem post which used to carry an "Armstrong" hand winch (see picture). Changing to the electric winch was an easy DIY job (with slightly longer stainless threaded rod to go right through the mount and thick wooden deck) once I ensured I had sufficient battery capacity, and where the leads could be run to and from the control and fixed without any problem. In fact, it was the only winch I could find with a left side drive that I could deck mount without removing the stem post! For this boatie now 70 years old, I should have done it years ago and saved my aged back. And it was easy to cut (out of canvas) and sew a suitable cover for when the winch is not in use."

Don Marshall

 Where do we distribute our windlasses?

 "My boat is a 5metre sharkcat.  The boat had a raised moulded hatch area but this was never used. I made a cover out of plywood to cover the hatch up to the front of the boat to keep the height level. This was sealed with marine resin, fibreglassed and painted with flowcoat paint to seal it.  Bolted to boat and used 3/16 stainless plate under the deck for reinforcing and strength.

In the cabin made a recepticle area for the rope and chain. This was also made out of 15mm ply, sealed and painted. Access door was made on the front panel. Bolted down from the top and bottom was glued and sealed with silicone. A drainage hole was made and hose fitted to drain water.  On the hose i fitted a one way valve so no water will come back into the box.

I installed two switches to operate the winch; one at the helm and one inside the cabin on the front f the recepticle box.  As I am on my own quite a bit, I found it very easy to anchor up using the switch on the helm and retrieval I do from inside the cab.

Prior to fitting the winch, retrieval meant pulling in the anchor rope, getting wet, water in the boat and then getting the rope back in the box. Plus the whinging from my offsider on who was going to retrieve the anchor.  Used to take up to 20mins before we were on the way again.

Now anchoring is so easy.  Get to the spot and keeping an eye on the sounder, drop the anchor, takes no more than 5 min.  

Retrieval is just as easy. Drive boat forward to free the anchor turn switch to up.  Once anchor is near the top, inch up and secure the anchor and on our way.  No more getting wet, tangled ropes, mess at rear of boat and whinging offsider.

No hesitation in recommending the winch.  Very easy to use and very easy to fit it yourself to the boat.  I am now anchoring more often on closer in reefs and less drifting over the spots.

A very big thanks to the sale staff to their follow up e-mails to check that I had no trouble with the fitting and operation of the winch; much appreciated."

Sam Grech

"Hi my name Steve and I have been using a 710 Winch on my 4.8 Formas hardtop for about 3 years and don’t know why I did not buy one earlier. Simple to install and good and precise instruction. I would recommend to anyone thinking of purchasing one to go a bit further and get one with the stainless steel gypsy, well worth the extra."

Regards

Steve penfoldsteve  

 "I will be pleased to tell you that after I install the windlass from South Pacific my life boating have being a lot easier since I can anchor my boat just by my self without the need of having my wife or any one else doing this hard and tedious task of pulling the anchor rope that sometimes it gets stock on the ocean floor.

Thanks again for all your help.

I have a Wellcraft 250 CC Tournament Edition 2004 with two Yamahas 150 four strokes engines."

Harrry O.de la 

Puerto Rico

"The decision to fit an anchor winch to my Stabi Craft Hard top was made following an accident and subsequent shoulder reconstruction. I found lifting the anchor by hand almost impossible especially in strong wind and rough seas.

I decided that a deck mounted windlass would be the best option. This decision was influenced by the high costs of welding mounting plates into the existing anchor locker and the re-paint bill once complete.

Several boat owners we spoke to had fitted “South Pacific” windlass’s to their boats many years ago. Unlike some other brands they had not experienced any failures of these units, the only repairs were apparently changing of the Nylon Gypsy after 6 years operation. Both owners we spoke to used their boats every weekend that weather permitted, so we knew the gear on these craft would have had hundreds of hour use.

We purchased a “South Pacific 710F” windlass, new anchor rope and chain together with a new swivel to connect to the “Sarca” anchor we currently used. A 10mm Aluminium plate was cut out to cover the existing anchor locker, and the windlass was fitted to this with aluminium plate reinforcing under the rear mounts and down both sides. The installation instructions were clear, templates were excellent, and we had the windlass fitted over a wet cold weekend.

Since then we have used the boat many times, finding it easy to anchor exactly on our favourite spot’s , with absolutely no effort in retrieving the anchor when we wish to move, all from the comfort of the hard top.

I would have no hesitation in recommending the “South Pacific Windlass” to anyone considering the purchase of an anchor winch."

Regards,

Mike Carter (New Zealand) 

  "Most of the waters I fish in are 25-35 meters deep and I end up going out myself on many trips cause always something comes up and guys cancel at the last moment and believe me when your out by yourself and you have to pull anchor up 3 or 4 times cause you miss your gps spot you need to land on your buggered before you even get a line wet, even when other guys are along there was always an argument over who has to pull anchor next, now I argue with now one, I don't even get a sore finger or any more twinges in the back. The one photo of my mates boat out in the water is the only one I have and were in 35 meters of water there and yes, he loves not having to pull up as well.

These winches were very simple to mount and the DVD that came with was real handy, I didn't bother with my own rope to chain tie, I gave it to a rigger mate and he fixed it up for me. My boat is a 5.5 meter 1977 Nova, it weighs in at 1.8 tonne with men and gear going out for a fish, according to scales.

My mate’s is a 2007 Whitley 5.5 meter weighing in at about 1.1 tonne."

Talk to you soon,Rod

"The 710FS anchor winch is all I had hoped for, easy to install and just as easy to operate. I often go to sea by myself. While it simply makes life so much easier and the journey so much more relaxing, it is important to think about those other things.

• The ease of changing position slightly if you are not in that "exact" spot due to tide or wind shift.
• The ability of freefall being able to drop the anchor exactly where desired.
• And particularly in a small craft as my own, the safety of not having to leave the controls and get into the nose of the boat during a bit of rough weather to pull in the anchor when alone.

People spend $10k plus on a boat yet don't spend $500 on a winch, I can't understand that. I think it would still be a wise purchase on any boat bigger than an "open tinny"."

Kind regards, Bill Hannaford 

 "Its been an easy fitment and the instructions and the CD were a tremendous help. Especially the part where its explained how to splice a rope. Not many people know how to do this. There is no negatives regarding the power of the winch. A couple of times the anchor has been caught on the bottom and stopped the winch. This is quite normal. However the clutch held it strong until I freed the anchor. I cannot speak highly enough of this products. It’s a quality windlass at a really low price!!"

Kind regards, A Happy Customer

 "I have a 4.50M runabout which I enjoy using, but there was something that I used to hate doing. I hated retrieving the anchor. Retrieving the anchor was a nightmare. I would have to lean over the dash, pull up the rope and chain, then lift the anchor over into the anchor well. Not only would I get covered in mud, but would end up with a bad back after a day on the water. Most anchor winches/windlasses are made for the larger boat over 6 Metres in length. I thought surely, there must be a windlass for a smaller boat. This is when I came across South Pacific and the 710F windlass. This windlass was perfect for our boat. It was rated for a 4.50M-5.50M boat, perfect! Installation was simple. Full instructions are included, and so is a installation CD. Now, launching and retrieving the anchor is so simple, and more pleasurable. Turn the switch to the left drops the anchor. Turn the switch to the right retrieves the anchor. All from the comfort of my chair.

The 710F windlass has been a lifesaver. No more days covered in mud, no more back pain. More time to sit back, relax and let the windlass do all of the work."

Kind regards, Glenn Reid

"Hi i have sent these pics to let you know this winch has been hammerd for years 5 years now and still keep going, big work in VIC."

John Wilkson 

A Happy Customer (United States of America)