Are these ARCO winches?
You may have ARCO number 6 winches, but maybe not. My C-22 built in 1981 came with ARCO Number 6 winches; however, I think your boat might have a different manufacturer. If they are ARCO winches, there is a clip washer around the top of the winch that is removed with a small blade or screwdriver. This will allow you to raise the drum up and off to get at the interior. However, as noted in the previous articles, things can easily fall overboard, including the clip washer. Hence you should only do this on a very calm day, or better yet on land. Loosing parts from old winches may necessitate replacement of the winch as these parts may not be available. Personally, I dumped my winches and use cheek blocks instead, as I have a furling 135. This is not an original idea, as I read about an individual that did this to his C-22 in Main Brace. However, this individual raced his C-22, and sought, as myself, a speedier way to reset the jib sheets after tacking. As I do nearly 99% of my sailing by myself, this is an important consideration for me. I also installed inboard tracks that do seem to give better pointing ability. I use spectra core jib sheets so that I do not have to deal with tightening the sheets only to get the stretch out of them.
