Just the same old same...

John Scalzi & Josh Marshall both making good points, a Broadway review, and EBM points out we've entered the "Step up or be complicit" zone...

The other day I was in the process of servicing my winches when I had one of the bearing races self-destruct. The fact that the winch in question, a Barlow 24, is at least 48-years old makes it not all that surprising and something of a testament on just how long good gear will last if you keep up with its basic maintenance regime.

Looking at both of the 24's, I noticed that all of the races were somewhat long in the tooth and while the bearings were in perfect condition, the race bits that hold them together had seen better days. In a perfect world the races would be standard sized but the only source I know of for Barlow/Barient winch bearing races is Hutton-Arco in Australia and they are sorta/kinda expensive.

Actually expensive is a pretty relative term where boat stuff is concerned and compared to the extortionate cost of winch parts from Lewmar, Harken, or Andersen for currently in production models, the Hutton-Arco parts are downright cheap.

The words "highway robbery" jump to mind...

Just a side note but, not too long ago, I needed a spring for an Andersen winch and found it impossible to buy said spring by itself as Andersen only sells it as part of a "rebuild kit" which actually costs more than I paid for the winch. Think about that for a second of two... Anyway, I was able to buy a reasonable facsimile stainless spring at Ace Hardware for less than a dollar and, as a result, Andersen lost me as a client forever.

Back on the Barlow/Barient front... I got on eBay and found a pair of bronze Barient 24's for just $114 with free shipping. Worst case scenario is I'll be able to use them for parts/spares but I'll let you know how it all works out.

In the meantime, if anyone reading this knows of a good resource for winch bearings of the Barlow/Barient sort, I'd really appreciate hearing from you on the subject.

Listening to Venus in Furs cover the Jefferson Airplane

So it goes...