As you well know, everyone these days has to have two speed self-tailing winches on their boats.

Did you ever wonder what happened to all the wonderful "flat top" winches that got replaced? I'll tell you what happened to them. THEY ALL ENDED UP IN MY STORE!!! I estimate I must have about 4 tons of these winches. Most are 2 speed, perfectly good made of bronze, aluminum, stainless steel etc. All are popular brands, Barients-Barlows-Lewmars-Merriman etc. Most take the modern handles we use on current winches but some of the oldies take the old bayonet and rachet handles. In my mind, these flat tops are some of the best winches ever built. Nothing's better than a 2 speed stainless steel Barient sheet winch. No plastic parts, built to last 100 years if keep them clean, lubricate them often and don't drop any parts overboard. What I'm getting at is that if there are a few of you out there that still know how to "crank and tail" at the same time and want some great values in winches. Give us a shout (or an e-mail) and we'll come up with a recommendation for you. We'll even open them up and check them out before we ship them to you. Buffed up and polished, some of the beautiful old Merrimans make great book ends, lamps and nautical decor.