I've been working on a new organization plan for the running rigging on the coach top to make it more user friendly for double handed sailing. The boat didn't have a rope clutch for the jib halyard or the spinnaker halyard, so that was first on the list for this year. I found a great deal on a Spinlock XCS double. Drilling holes in the boat is a little nauseating, but it had to be done. If you're going to embark on this task in the future, make sure you call a buddy and have a beer for him. It's pretty much impossible to hold the machine screw and tighten the nut at the same time by yourself. Whole project only took about three hours (if you count the hour it's going to take me to put the headliner back to rights).
The starting battery turned out to be bad... Nothing a small boat unit ($100) can't fix. The new one is a maintenance free battery- so no worries about maintenance with water and stuff. The newly built house bank and the starting battery both had a good charge on them today. Everything seems to be coming up voltage--- I mean roses!
Ahhhhh, battery... How I despise thee.More fun maintenance work this week. Yet another three winches cleaned and rebuilt. Always exciting since there are four coach-top winches--- all different. There's a 21, a self tailing 21, a self tailing 17, and a 22. I guess I must have a thing for puzzles. But, this week finished the coach-top winches, just the cockpit winches to go.I also did some battery work this week and discovered that none of the marinas have ever done battery maintenance during winterization and spring commissioning. Jerks. So I checked levels in the batteries (I know, I should do this more often... but I don't) and they were VERY low. Did I mention they were low. Well, let's just say they were low. So I topped them off. Then it was time to add a battery to the house bank. I took the starting battery out and linked it to the house battery (both same battery and age). Then I installed a dual-purpose that we have as a spare to be the starter. Everything is charging as I write this.
Ahhh the joys of winch maintenance! Tear it all apart, then soak it in mineral spirits, then brush it all clean and rinse it, then try to figure out how it all goes back together. I will say that our winches were happy to get a good cleaning and lube job. It wasn't too bad of a job either. The Harken article on doing the job suggests cold beer- Good Suggestion! Also ordered a new double rope clutch today, but that's a story for another day.
One quick tip that I picked up somewhere (probably the Ericson web board) is to cut a hole the diameter of the winch base in the bottom of an appropriately sized cardboard box and put it over the winch while you're taking it apart. This will keep any errant parts from doing the "bounce-bounce-splash" trick and ending up at the bottom of your slip. And remember to use only light machine oil on pawls (not grease or they'll stick, and that will stink!) and a LIGHT coat of winch grease on the other moving parts. More pictures will follow as I continue the process of cleaning and lubing these- there are still a few left. 
With the Holidays finally over, it's time to get back to work on the boat! This week is going to be winch maintenance week. Should be fun and exciting! Then we get to keep working at that list-- S
