Hello everyone.  Wondering if my email went through.  I am obviously not very mechanically minded. If anyone can give me any help about the winch, the Mast raising winch that would be wonderful.

On Thu, Apr 30, 2026 at 4:05 PM Matt Wilson <mwhornblower at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello everyone,
>
> So glad the list is chirping with the sounds of spring!  Hope you are
> sailing soon if not already.
>
> Last fall when I was attempting to lower my mast with the winch will only
> pay out a few inches of line before the handle started to unscrew.  I
> managed to get it down by tightening the nut on the handle side of the
> winch but the same thing seems to be happening now. It seems like it
> catches just fine to raise the mask so I should be fine this spring, but is
> there something that needs adjusting or replacing from your experience?
>
> The nut on the handle Sides has a spring and the shaft of that bolt/nut
> combo sticks out about an inch and a half or so. is that normal?
>
> I believe this is the original mask raising system from General boats. The
> winch housing says Shelly on it.
>
> Thanks for whatever help you can give,
> Matt Wilson
> Hornblower II
> White Bear Lake, Minnesota
>