John B
10-01-2007, 08:18 PM
We slipped the lines just ½ an hour before dusk on Friday night for an early season family sail. I got away from work early and got the boat ready, Kirsty got caught in the rush hour and took over an hour for a normally 30 minute trip from home. Still, this marina down harbour puts us very close to the cruising area, so it’s a quick trip out to an island.
Very light but I wanted to set and sort out the #4 jib so that’s what went up.
I was a nice sail only I rolled my ankle on a rope( I think) and did some damage. It’s always bad when you hear it eh. Still, once the gwasshopper minute or two was over, it was a good sail arriving in pitch black about an hour later at Motuhuie island. I usually stay well away from this place .. too many people but this early in the season and an ambiguous forecasted wind direction meant there was only 3 boats in there( that I could see)
Contour came out and met us and we chatted about the forthcoming race etc, had a pleasant night with little roll( another reason I usually stay away) and the next morning was maintenance stuff. I stripped and greased 2 winches( pawls sticking) greased a few block wheels, siliconed the sail tracks.
I had to climb up the mizzen a step to get at the track. So I was up about 5 ft with my good foot on a mast winch, hanging on to the halyard with one hand and spraying this stuff into the track with the other ,only on coming down I kind of realized I didn’t have a leg to stand on, as it were. As I was just deciding that it was going to hurt to put the dead one down on the coaming ,we got a wake and a roll with the result that anyone who happened to be in the near vicinity at the time was treated to the spectacle of John B doing a swan lake one handed maypole swing around the mast clear from port to starboard, and disappearing from sight as he let go( having reached the end of his travel.)
Highly amusing no doubt ,only now I could add a sore butt to the swollen ankle.
About then I could feel a little lie down coming on but unfortunately it was discovered that the head had given up the ghost. Fortunately I’m not too squeamish and with the luck of the Irish on my side I found only a ‘clean’ problem anyway. Still , It took a wee while to pull that sucker apart, analyze the problem, a lightly built plastic washer/collar that split apart, making the pump completely ineffectual.I repaired it with a stainless washer that should have been in there anyway and rebuilt it to the worship and general acclaim of the family.
My pole dancing pole. and Contour and co tied up behind.
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/236_3602_1.jpg
Contour has a whole new suit of sails and the latest is a staysail on a furler. They set that but found that the halyard was led too high( close to the stay) and the top swivel would turn with the furling, causing it to bind. Common problem, he’ll have to do one of three things to fix it. He’ll probably fix a turning block onto the mast down a foot so there’s some separation of the stay and the halyard.
So we went off for a sail then to look at his sails and heading hard on the wind and tacking to get to my second most least favourite destination five or seven miles away, Rakino island. This one always gets full too, and it also gets a roll on tide change and depending on wind direction. Still, same as the first, few people out so not too bad.
Contour's staysail
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/236_3606_1.jpg
and genoa
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/236_3613_r1_1.jpg
she should be a lot better off now.
Boat hopping at rakino.
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/236_3614_1.jpg
Until the roll and the wind started about 3 am. Oh, and the mizzen unsheeted and started clanging about.
This bugs me this whole sheeted in hard on the topping lift thing, Its common practice but I’ve always had a set of gallows ( scissor lifts). So that’s a resolution, I’m making a short pair of demountable gallows for the mizzen boom. And I have a strop made for the main boom to hang on so the weight goes off the main topper as well (and so the harmonic hum from the tensioned line is removed) .
20 to 25 knots and a flat run straight home for 10 miles approx, we slipped in in front of the wind warning to be back on the marina by mid day. Quite a challenging entrance to this marina I’m finding, the cross sea in 23 or 25 knots had us pitching and yawing at the pile markers as we tried to line up for the ‘quite’ narrow dredged channel in. It made me wonder what it’d be like in a substantial breeze.
the run home with the patented T.O.M auto helm.
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/236_3618_1.jpg
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/236_3617_1.jpg
slipping along at 8 under reefed main and #4( which we put then away.. too flat off)
Anyway, a few jobs done as we sort this boat out, a disaster averted ( the head.. not a good problem to get when away racing for 5 days in 2 weeks time) and who needs a foot at a desk anyway. eh.
Very light but I wanted to set and sort out the #4 jib so that’s what went up.
I was a nice sail only I rolled my ankle on a rope( I think) and did some damage. It’s always bad when you hear it eh. Still, once the gwasshopper minute or two was over, it was a good sail arriving in pitch black about an hour later at Motuhuie island. I usually stay well away from this place .. too many people but this early in the season and an ambiguous forecasted wind direction meant there was only 3 boats in there( that I could see)
Contour came out and met us and we chatted about the forthcoming race etc, had a pleasant night with little roll( another reason I usually stay away) and the next morning was maintenance stuff. I stripped and greased 2 winches( pawls sticking) greased a few block wheels, siliconed the sail tracks.
I had to climb up the mizzen a step to get at the track. So I was up about 5 ft with my good foot on a mast winch, hanging on to the halyard with one hand and spraying this stuff into the track with the other ,only on coming down I kind of realized I didn’t have a leg to stand on, as it were. As I was just deciding that it was going to hurt to put the dead one down on the coaming ,we got a wake and a roll with the result that anyone who happened to be in the near vicinity at the time was treated to the spectacle of John B doing a swan lake one handed maypole swing around the mast clear from port to starboard, and disappearing from sight as he let go( having reached the end of his travel.)
Highly amusing no doubt ,only now I could add a sore butt to the swollen ankle.
About then I could feel a little lie down coming on but unfortunately it was discovered that the head had given up the ghost. Fortunately I’m not too squeamish and with the luck of the Irish on my side I found only a ‘clean’ problem anyway. Still , It took a wee while to pull that sucker apart, analyze the problem, a lightly built plastic washer/collar that split apart, making the pump completely ineffectual.I repaired it with a stainless washer that should have been in there anyway and rebuilt it to the worship and general acclaim of the family.
My pole dancing pole. and Contour and co tied up behind.
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/236_3602_1.jpg
Contour has a whole new suit of sails and the latest is a staysail on a furler. They set that but found that the halyard was led too high( close to the stay) and the top swivel would turn with the furling, causing it to bind. Common problem, he’ll have to do one of three things to fix it. He’ll probably fix a turning block onto the mast down a foot so there’s some separation of the stay and the halyard.
So we went off for a sail then to look at his sails and heading hard on the wind and tacking to get to my second most least favourite destination five or seven miles away, Rakino island. This one always gets full too, and it also gets a roll on tide change and depending on wind direction. Still, same as the first, few people out so not too bad.
Contour's staysail
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/236_3606_1.jpg
and genoa
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/236_3613_r1_1.jpg
she should be a lot better off now.
Boat hopping at rakino.
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/236_3614_1.jpg
Until the roll and the wind started about 3 am. Oh, and the mizzen unsheeted and started clanging about.
This bugs me this whole sheeted in hard on the topping lift thing, Its common practice but I’ve always had a set of gallows ( scissor lifts). So that’s a resolution, I’m making a short pair of demountable gallows for the mizzen boom. And I have a strop made for the main boom to hang on so the weight goes off the main topper as well (and so the harmonic hum from the tensioned line is removed) .
20 to 25 knots and a flat run straight home for 10 miles approx, we slipped in in front of the wind warning to be back on the marina by mid day. Quite a challenging entrance to this marina I’m finding, the cross sea in 23 or 25 knots had us pitching and yawing at the pile markers as we tried to line up for the ‘quite’ narrow dredged channel in. It made me wonder what it’d be like in a substantial breeze.
the run home with the patented T.O.M auto helm.
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/236_3618_1.jpg
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd48/Waione_photos/Riada/236_3617_1.jpg
slipping along at 8 under reefed main and #4( which we put then away.. too flat off)
Anyway, a few jobs done as we sort this boat out, a disaster averted ( the head.. not a good problem to get when away racing for 5 days in 2 weeks time) and who needs a foot at a desk anyway. eh.