Rodd,
In my opinion, how much chain you “need” depends on your cruising grounds. In general, more is better. For cruising long-distance, I like 200-250′ of chain + 100′ of rope on the primary anchor. On the secondary bow anchor, 50′ of chain plus at least 200′ of rope. (I think it’s OK to use the word “rope” when referring to anchor rodes.) On the stern anchor I use only 25′ of chain, the rest rope.
As for switching manually from gypsy to capstan, you might be able to upgrade your windlass to a gypsy that handles both chain and line. You can then connect the chain and rope with a long chain splice and the gypsy will handle the transition all by itself, without you having to hump the rode from one drum to the other.
Tor
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Silver Heels, P-424 #17
http://www.SilverHeels.us
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