Winch help

Jan 19, 2010
1,169
Catalina 34 Casco Bay
WE owned this very same boat. The hoisting winches were mounted on either side of the mast. I removed the stbd side and mounted it on the cabin top's cockpit edge. Converted the system to cockpit control for hoisting and reefing. Later installed a TIDES System. Worked well going up but need a tug to start it down. 2 Issues: The sheave at the mast head was worn and the halyard was too stiff. New halyard and sheave later, it would hoist sooo easy and drop like a stone.

So, check that sheave and maybe replace that main halyard.
 

dfp51

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Jun 26, 2019
42
O'Day 28 Lorain, Ohio
Thanks to everyone for the ideas. To close this loop, I rebuilt the winches which were in fact pretty nasty. So much so that I have now rebuilt two of our sheet winches and will eventually rebuild the remaining pair. I replaced two of the pawls on the cabin top winches with parts from the winches @rogjack2 was kind enough to send me. All four spin much more easily now.
But I think the big problem was that the sheave on the top of the mast didn't spin at all. We have a local rigger coming out next week to deliver a new 135 genoa. I had also asked him to service our roller furler & check the internal mast rigging at that time. He is going to replace the sheave when he does that.