Pennies on the dollar, the appeal of old winches...

George Buehler makes an excellent point in his book "Buehler's Backyard Boatbuilding" that you don't really need winches but since non-fashionable winches are available for pennies on the dollar you might as well have LOTS (and they even make great paper weights) of them...

Now, the thing about winches is that they are such a simple concept that the difference between what is hip and what is not has nothing to do with function as my elderly Barient 26's and Barlow 24's still kick serious butt and will continue to do so further into the future than I expect to be around. Sadly, I can't say the same with the new pair of Harkens I bought on sale (and still paid way too much) which are going to be used as halyard winches...

The Barients/Barlows are stainless and bronze, dissimilar metals are not a factor, and they are built to a spec that is simply not considered profitable anymore. The Harkens, on the other hand, are certainly hip, but when you take them apart you notice, that while they have a certain elegance of design, longevity was not a big factor in the design brief. I expect about three years from now I'll be needing to replace them and knowing that I'll be keeping an eye out at nautical flea markets for some less fashionable winches to have in reserve for when they begin to fail...

Listening to the Drones

So it goes...