I just installed this remote relay kit from Carl's Electronics (see link) as a remote control for my windlass. It works like a champ from back in the cockpit and at $29 you can't beat the price. The best part is that I didn't have to run any wires back to the cockpit.

The only thing that is less than perfect is that there is about a 1/2 second delay between when I take my finger off the button and the relay shuts off. This just means that when I'm raising the anchor I won't try to bring it all the way into the roller with the remote. I'll still use the foot buttons for that. The main thing I wanted it for was to be able to let it out from back in the cockpit when I'm single handing. I'll still have to go forward and "pre-deploy" the anchor as I'm approaching the anchorage, but once I've got the boat just where I want it, I'll be able to let it out without having to go forward. When there's a current running (common on SF Bay) and you move as slowly as I do, the boat can move quite a ways in the time it take me to get to the bow.