New Winches and Winch Base Design Installed.

[John Stone]

Though there still a list of projects to complete this year to address small improvements on the Far Reach the last big project is to install the new bronze Lewmar Ocean Series ST 46 Winches. The 46s replace the original Lewmar 44s that were a flawed design, mixing aluminum with bronze. The aluminum jaws were ate up with galvanic corrosion.

I like the all bronze winch bases that some folks have on their boats but these are big winches and the spartan bases are too small. Custom designs such as sold by PTF are very expensive. And, nothing is stronger than bolting the winch through the teak base. It takes the strain off the coaming too. Also, I met some sailors recently who had their ST winches stolen because the nuts were exposed under the bronze open base style mounts. Yikes. Bolting the winches through the deck make them more difficult for a thief to remove.

Because the hole pattern for the new winches is different than the old winches I decided to build new teak bases. Also, I desired to eliminate the 2” riser pads that sat on top of the old bases. I had incorporated the risers during the rebuild because I planned to run the jib sheet direct from the jib leads (about 8” above deck due to the new raised bulwarks) to the winches. The winches has to sit up high to provide a proper fair lead. But the direct sheeting never worked out and I ended up routing the sheet to the winch via a foot-block mounted aft on the fantail. So, I no longer need to mount the primaries on the teak riser pads.

Interestingly, the number one trouble area for external varnish turned out to be the top of the winch pads—the radius edge of the base itself. They get beat by the sun’s UV and despite an aggressive varnish schedule they were constantly getting compromised. Additionally, the narrow gap between the coaming and the pad were hard to varnish. So, I decided to solve both challenges with a single solution. I fabricated a 3/16” thick silicon bronze plate to sit on top of the new winch base and bolt the new winches direct to the bronze plate that sits on the winch base. I shaped the plate so it is about 1/16” proud of the base providing an easy line to tape and cut-in when varnishing the base. I radiused the edge of the plate with a file.

The silicon bronze should turn green and make a nice contrast with the varnished bases and varnished coaming. It will be interesting to see how it works out and if it solves problems or creates them.

[Jim Walsh]

Nice work. Bronze always looks best on a Cape Dory. Gotta love a properly sized, two speed, self tailer. That's one of the most satisfying improvements I've made.

[John Stone]

Thanks Jim. The new winches and their bases have been installed. That’s the last big project on my list. Still have small things to do but those are always popping up.

Here is the link on our website for the installation details.

https://wordpress.com/post/farreachvoya ... s.com/1085

[Jim Walsh]

Boat bling