Just One Of Those Days - 10:27 PM, Apr. 24, 2005

The Plan:

Friday: Drive up to boat with son, couple of beers, early bed.

Saturday: Raise mast, bend on sails, nip up re-bedded deck fittings, finish interior re-assembly.

Sunday: Shakedown cruise, drive home.

The Reality:

Friday: Son drives up to boat with me, have more than a couple of beers for medicinal purposes, late to bed.

Saturday: Raise mast but new forestay seems to be too short, quick trip up mast (many thanks to our neighbour, John, who was working on his own boat Windseeker, a Seamaster 925, in between my requests for assistance) to check that nothing is twisted/fouled. All OK, forestay is too short. Tim (the marina manager who made the forestay with his own two hands and who just happens to walk past as I hail him from the spreaders) is seriously upset at this turn of events (I next saw him returning from another owner's boat having managed to drill a hole in his hand!) and immediately agrees to make another. In the meantime he comes up with a bodge, three links of chain for each half of the split backstay. All the stays can now be attached at the same time (!!!) and the rigging is tensioned. Boom, kicker, mainsheet, mainsail etc go according to plan. Haul genoa up r/r foil  and attempt to roll away but halyard wraps up irretrievably instead and another trip up the mast (thanks again John) is required to disentangle halyard and drop sail again. Notice that halyard swivel is stiffer than it should be and attempt to dismantle but no dice. Gloom descends, hunger sets in and we retire to eat, drink and lick wounds.

Sunday: Black dog lingering, still can't get cap off halyard swivel, tackle the rest of the job list. Surprise! Firing on all cylinders. Nip up deck fittings in 5 minutes. Fit sink in 5 minutes. Fit fiddles in 5 minutes. Wire up VHF in 5 minutes. Turn back to the real problem and the Mark III Improvised Strap Wrench (thanks again John) finally gets the cap off the halyard swivel to reveal caged ball bearings gummed up with dried grease but apparently OK apart from that though I can't figure out how to dismantle the swivel completely. Amazingly, another neighbour appears to say that he has the manual for my r/r system on his laptop and would I care to come and have a look? Sadly he doesn't also have a magic wand and I still can't dismantle the swivel completely or clean the bearings properly although they are much improved. Son drives home. Email Plastimo. Search PBO r2r and find this informative thread which gives lots of other things to think about. Has the shorter forestay changed the halyard/swivel angle enough to cause the problem? Is it a combination of the stiffer swivel and shorter forestay? Check back soon for the next exciting instalment of "Mast Climbs 2005".

Isn't the internet wonderful?

What price the Chentleman's Cruise now?