Well done. The foot switches fail quite frequently.
It is worth knowing how to bypass both the foot switch and the
anchor solenoid. The later is a bit more difficult because of the large currents involved. Sometimes a a heavy duty
electrical clamp like on the end of a jumper
cables will
work. Making up a short length of heavy duty wire with suitable ring terminal for this purpose is a worthwhile
project. This will fix both a defective switch and defective solenoid.
If you jump the
anchor solenoid the anchor
winch can be operated by using the circuit breaker.
The best solution for the unreliable
deck switch is to have multiple options.
Up/down switches in a handheld wired
remote control are available quite cheaply as industrial switches. These are more reliable (as well much cheaper) than the
marine alternative. The
photo below was taken to show the HH
VHF that I have bolted to the back of one of controls (to communicate with the helm) but you can just see the orange industrial switch housing.
You can also buy $10 wireless
remote controls from ebay which are very handy.
All of these switches can occasional fail in the "on position" so know where fuse is located for them (and fuse them separately)