Anchors Ready, Fuel Tapped

This morning I moved the 45 lb CQR anchor to the foredeck and set it up on the bow roller.  I will sail out of the harbor the the anchor ready to drop but once I have cleared land I'll move it back to the mast to lighten the bow.  While I was at it I noticed that the chain release on the windlass was not working so I partially dismantled it pried and tapped the gypsy loose then lubricated the drum and various threads.  I also set up an anchor trip line and float.  To make it simple the trip line length has only two positions: 5m  and 10m.  I'll try to avoid anchoring in more than 10 meters of water.

I then cleared the rest of the area between the quarter berths and drew diesel fuel from the bottom of each tank. Both tanks required prodding with wire to get the full stream of fuel.  Although some some debris and cloudy fuel came out I was pleased to see that there was no water.

I decided to push on and dig the 35 lb Swarbrick “fisherman” anchor out of the starboard quarter berth storage.  While that space was open I removed the remnants of the rigging wire from the passage from La Paz and replaced it with four spare pieces from the recent re-rigging: One lower shroud, two intermediate shrouds, and one cap shroud.  The lower and cap shrouds are of 10mm wire and the intermediates are of 8mm, The spare backstay was in pieces because the insulators had been removed so I got rid of it.  The spare forestay had tapered wire rather than a fitting at the top end so I dumped it too.  I have no illusions about being able to replace anything other than the lower shrouds at sea, but the wire and attached fittings would give me a shot at replacing failed ends using  bulldog clamps as I did before.  I also carefully stowed all of the leftover toggle fittings and a dozen bulldog clamps.

I stowed the three pieces of the Swarbrick anchor at the foot of the closet.  I'll probably assemble it and have it ready to go during my stay at Angra.



I'll have a lay day from work tomorrow.  I'm expecting Jorge for lunch.  I hope that the sky is as brilliant then as it was today.