What happened to the April showers? Every weekend in April, on the East Coast at least, has been hot and sunny. On Saturday, we went out for “team training” with the crew we hope will do the Fastnet with us. With only three weeks to go to the North Sea Race, the first qualifying event, there is excitement in the camp.
We had a little more breeze than would have been ideal for the dress rehearsal, but we had a great day at sea, with two good blasts with the new asymmetric spinnaker - gosh, it's powerful - and a nice lumpy beat to give everyone a taste of steering the boat in quite demanding conditions. And we all had fun and laughed a lot. Let's hope the same is true on race days!
But then, on Sunday, it was back to the essential “chores.” At last, there are some ticks on the “to do” list, and we're starting to feel we really will be ready in time. Top of the list this weekend was servicing the winches.
It might be tempting to think: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. But in our experience, giving the winches regular attention (about once a year, that is) prevents them from letting you down when you most need them. And if you're setting off for a four or five day race, the last thing you want is a winch suddenly going “stiff and scraunchy” as someone graphically described it, or seizing up completely.
Apart from anything, the job is much easier to do quietly moored, and you're much less likely to lose a vital part, than if you end up having to dismantle a winch as running repairs at sea. And sitting in a sunny cockpit yesterday, the skipper declared that actually, it was really quite a pleasant way to pass the time!
So, if you haven't looked at your winches for a while, there's no excuse for putting it off any longer. Both Lewmar and Harken sell servicing kits for their winches. Superficially they look very similar: both contain pawls and springs, of similar sizes. But they are not interchangeable, so make sure you get the right ones.
You are actually unlikely to need to replace pawls, unless winches are very old and worn, or have been badly maintained, but you will almost certainly need to replace the odd spring. You can buy the springs separately, which is cheaper than buying the kit. But it's probably sensible to keep spares of both on board.
You will also need a tube of special winch grease. This is quite expensive: about the same as luxury brand face cream. But bearing in mind the high cost of replacing winches, it is worth investing in the right stuff: don't risk shortening their life by giving them anything less than the best. They work very hard for you!
Richard's recipe is as follows: Spread out a newspaper to put all the bits on, and carefully lay them out in the order you take them off. This makes it much easier to ensure you put them back in the right order, and don't end up with any bits left over!
Remove old exhausted grease and accumulated grime by dipping each part in turn in a paint kettle or similar containing a degreasing agent, for example Gunk, and scrubbing with an old toothbrush.
Then leave on the newspaper in the sun until the solvent/water has dried completely, and reassemble, replacing the little springs as necessary, and not being too mean with the expensive grease.
Even though our winches were apparently working fine before he started, they were positively purring after the treatment. And now - hopefully - they won't need any more attention until next year.
