www.iFourWinns.com

And I'm exhausted but it's done. Very time consuming and $$. It looks sharp though, I hope it's worth it. I'm really tired but I'll post pics soon.

-Bren

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V475
Chris Craft Catalina 23 w/ 300 G2
Previously-V338, 248 Vista, H210

Send a write upa nd some pics to me and I'll post a new project

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

Could you post pics on how this was done?

Thanks.

Hey Walt,

I've been meaning to do just that for a while. Here is the writeup I went by - I gotta give this guys Al a lot of credit because I'm not sure I would have attempted it unless I saw his superb writeup. Thanks Al!

http://members.toast.net/boatguy/proj-14.htm

The biggest snag with doing this on the 248 is the limited room due to the "lip" not far behind the existing Hause pipe hole. I should have caught this but I didn't. I bought the Sprint 600 windlass that Al used. Everything was purchased on ebay. When I got the Sprint I tested it with a car battery (as Al wisely suggested) only to find it was DOA. I thought I would get screwed on the purchase since I actually had contacted the seller and bought it outside of ebay. When i contacted the seller they told me to take it to west marine since that's where they'd purchased it. I figured that WM would tell me to pound sand but they actually offered to replace it or upgrade to the more current version - the V700. For 50 bucks more they gave me the V700. Hell, they also gave me a gift card for 50 bucks since I had a new boat owners card. They actually took 10 percent of the credit price of the Sprint - which was about 50 dollars. Hats off to them, I still can't believe they did that.

Anyway, I'm happy that I went with the V700 because the Sprint 600 wouldn't have worked as I eluded to earlier. The Sprint 600 template has you using a jigsaw. The jigsaw would have contacted the lip so it wouldn't have worked. Luckily the 700 uses a 4.5" hole saw and a 2.5" hole saw so you can cut your hole without dealing with that lip.
Here's pics of the V700 hole and template:


^pic of the fiberglass fill in/existing plywood deck interface.
Everything else was pretty much verbatum from Al's writeup. The only other snags were finding the existing wiring at the DC panel. I could not find the wiring that was supposed to be sitting at or near the panel that runs to the front (8awg wire). I even resorted to calling FW to find it because I couldn't find it for the life of me. I ended up looking behind the top rocker switches above the ac panel and saw what was probably it there according to the gauge wire. I pulled on it and I could hear it slapping around in somewhere behind the aft port speaker. From there I got down in the midberth cabinets and went fishing with the wire snake. I eventually got it and fed it up to the speaker hole (removed speaker) and pushed it through the engine room firewall. Also, the 268 dc panel is already setup for a breaker for the windlass while the 248 is not. So, I added some plywood down under the panel in the engine locker above the batteries. Sealed up the plywood with epoxy of course. I then bolted provided Lewmar fuse up right there. I can get some pics of that if needed. Wasn't a difficult job just time consuming especially the day I lost trying to find the dang wiring. Of course all the wires are exposed in the anchor locker to tie into. I love the windlass and can't imagine being without it!


Be prepared, Al didn't say anything about needing a special rode - that was another $175 and the freakin contacter was nearly $200 bucks too! oh well it's totally worth it. Also check out the ebay knock off Delta polished anchor I got for like $125 shipped. Also got the chain stopper and swivel all from these guys:
http://www.marinepartdepot.com
They are dirt cheap and even negotiable! The anchor has not let me down yet and we frequently raft up and I'm the "anchor ship".

I'll put up some better pics of the windlass hopefully later tonight or tommorow.

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V475
Chris Craft Catalina 23 w/ 300 G2
Previously-V338, 248 Vista, H210

Brenden,

Thanks for the pics and text!

The V700 is the model I planned to go with from the start since it's all stainless steel on the top side, even the gypsy catch. If I go with the 700 do I still have to fill in the hole from the hawse pipe or does the placement of the 700 just miss the original hawse pipe hole?

And do you have a link to that ebay seller for the anchor?

Fortunately for me, I already have the anchor/rode package from FW that was used on the 268 with windlass it has the smooth spice from chain to rode. I will need a contactor, windlass and maybe deck switches.

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Brett DiMichele

hey man,

yea, sorry it took this long! Yes, you are going to have to fill the hause pipe hole in. But that was fun - I cut up a ton of tiny fiberglass pieces and I worked with a few ounces (I think) at a time. Now for that last 1/8th inch gelcoat layer, I just did the portion that would be exposed. Looking at the picture of me holding the cut out portion, if you look closely you can see the fiberglass fill-in bonded to the existing decking (plywood). I used spectrum for my gelcoat, it's a nice match. But you hardly need any it's such a small space that is exposed. My next pics will show that and you'll probably be able to point out the added gel coat. As Al mentioned in his write up, he expected the gelcoat to weather over time to make a better match.

The only other concern I have for you guys is that you have a different anchor access hole. They must have changed from Radbud (vendor) after 2000. My diameter was 10" and I had my head and arm through that hole a bunch of times (at the same time!)

Hopefully the newer holes are still 10"dia.

Brett, the anchor is on that site I posted. I thought I got a 22 lb but maybe it was the 15.5 I'll have to check. The authentic delta 22lb is 1000 bucks!!!

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V475
Chris Craft Catalina 23 w/ 300 G2
Previously-V338, 248 Vista, H210

Brenden,

Ahhhhhhh I was hoping you was going to say no I wouldn't have to fill in the hawse pipe hole.... Dag nabbit! Well fortunately for me I can go down to the dealership and get authentic FW gel and since the boat is an 06 it hasn't had much time to fade yet! And like you said, it's such a small area.. But man that sucks to have to do all that patch work only to cut 99.999% of it back out!

I will have my work cut out for me like you said, the access hole size on my locker is not 10" I can't even get my head in the locker. So that part will be fun!

Do me a fav and get some nice closeups of the deck with the new windlass in place. I want to get a feel for how the V700 lays on the deck and get a size perspective. No rush since I won't even start this till winter at the earliest.

I went to that web site and saw the anchors after I posted earlier. They sure "look" good on the site. Are they truly as nice in person? Because like you said, a good SS Delta is a grand, easy! Of course we know how bad we get ripped off on boat stuff..

So how does the new windlass work? Since the V700 is the cheaper model without free fall (but actually looks better built than the much higher priced version from Lewmar) does it drop nice and fast?

Thanks for posting the photos and doing the write up, 248 owners everywhere are in your and Al's debt!

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Brett DiMichele

THIS IS AWESOME!!!!! THANKS A BUNCH.

Any other pics you could post would be great.

Thank for your help guys, it has been interesting reading your input and the pictures are a great help.

When I shake the 8AWG behind the speaker I can hear the ends of the cables rattling above the "cool box" insert at the rear left of the boat somewhere above and forward of the main power panel, just where you cannot reach them!! I have not been able to remove the soft trim to the rear of the speaker to get out the insert.
Does anyone have an idea how it is fixed? The front part is held with 2 screws and some hooks but the rear has beaten me!!!

I was thinking of making a plywood plug to fit the existing hole in the deck and "floxing" it in. Flox is a mixture of epoxy and cotton floss used to fill gaps in layups and is very strong. It might take some of the bulk work out of the layup.

I bought the Maxwell 500 windlass that seems to be fitted to the 268 as an option. Now I have it I realise that it is not the ideal winch for the 248 as it is too long to fit tidily. There are better / cheaper options on the market.

I am at a bit of a disadvantage because I am in Germany and the boat is in Spain which is about 800 miles from us so I have to prepare everything before the next vacation.

Anyway If someone could help me to remove the trim panel I would appreciate it.

Thanks.

Barry Tennant
http://www.tennant-metall.de

Hi Barry,

By cool box I assume you mean the cooler recess? Come to think of it I think that the end of the 8awg wiring was actually foamed into the forward side of the firewall. If you have your hands on them (which it sounds like you do through the speaker hole) simply pull the wiring out. Then use a long screwdriver and open yourself up a small hole in the foam sealer to feed the wires through. Don't make it any harder than it is already. Focus your energy on the windlass hole! I don't know much about the maxwell but the key is going to be fitting it in there, and using a hole saw for the hole instead of a jigsaw because of the lip. The Lewmar V700 is PERFECT! Good luck!!

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V475
Chris Craft Catalina 23 w/ 300 G2
Previously-V338, 248 Vista, H210

Thanks Bren,

You are right. I think it would be very time consuming to get to the ends of the wires. I will just pull them out of the speaker hole and find a way into the engine room from there.

Thanks for your input.

Barry