DANNY:

Do NOT add a grease nipple to the mizzen furling gearbox. The box is designed to run with minimal grease and adding more will accrete salt & dirt accumulations. I undertook a laborious complete overhaul of my gearbox (better termed a gear cannister as it is all cylindrical), and came away impressed with it’s elegant simplicity and lack of need for lube. Also came away with knowledge that my teardown wasn’t needed. Thirough and frequent rinsing with fresh water is the best maintenance. I will write up a complete teardown and re-build article shortly. In the meantime, just start rinsing the shaft area with fresh water, also run fresh water into the gap at the top of the cylinder, it will flush the delrin bearings and drain out the two drain holes on the bottom of the cannister. If your gearbox is frozen it is almost assuredly at the winch handle shaft. The shaft is two pieces and rides within teflon or HDPE sleeves. Binding is due to salt & dirt accretions. Hence the need for copious fresh water rinsing. Again, DO NOT add grease, More soon.

Gary S. Silver
s/v Liahona
AMEL SM 2000 # 335
On the hard, Puerto Del Rey
Puerto Rico