More Preparations

Yesterday I fitted the water vane of the Monitor wind steering.   That went well probably because I didn't treat it as a routine job but rather a serious one with risks of losing tools, the vital pin, and even the water vane itself into the water.

I also put up the headsail.  It is a heavy beast and I worked in small steps to avoid damaging my back or the equipment.  I managed to get the sail bag up onto the foredeck through the forward hatch then laid it out on the port side of the inner forestay because the wind was gusting gently from the starboard quarter.  I added a second shackle at the peak of the sail because I didn't like how there was a 90 degree twist in the strop at the peak of the sail when it was attached to the single shackle on the Proful roller.  By the time the peak of the sail was connected with the shackle moused with wire, and both sheets in place, the wind strengthened and began to veer to the port side of the boat.  It was at this time that I decided to stop working on the headsail and turn my attention to the Monitor water vane. 

By the time I had finished work on the Monitor the wind was off the port bow and moderating, so I man handled the sail to the starboard side of the deck and decided that it conditions were safe enough for a hoist,  In fact the conditions were perfect because you want a bit of wind from the side to give the sail shape while it is being rolled in. 

I started off by attaching a snap block to a ring on the mast then passing the halyard to the bow.  In this way I could pull on the halyard while feeding the sail into the track.  Thereafter I would line up a few feet of luff under the feeder, go to the mast, and use my weight on the halyard to raise a few more feet of sail.  I would then snub off the halyard, go forward and line up more sail luff, and repeat the process.  When the sail was about 1/3 up there was too much weight for this hand work so I passed the halyard through its normal path to the starboard cabin winch.  Then it was a methodical process of lining up a few feet of luff at the bow, then going back to the cockpit to winch up more sail.  When the sail was 2/3 up even the size 22 cabin winch could not cope.  I used binoculars to make sure that all was OK aloft then transferred the halyard to one of the larger size 28 cockpit winches.  The angle at which the halyard met the winch made it prone to a crossover and I had once ruined a nearly new main halyard by tearing the sheath during such a crossover, so I was very careful to not make the same mistake again.

When the foot was at the level of the lower shackle of the Profurl roller I fitted it to the shackle (again a 90 degree twist) and soon had the sail rolled in.  The sail rolls “fat” partly because of the heavy weight of the cloth (9.55 oz from memory), and largely because pads have been sewn in along the luff of the sail to achieve a better shape when rolling – something that I had never seen before.

Fortunately the Proful roller has a very good feeder and the bolt rope on the sail luff is in as new conditions.  Were the feeder a poor one or the bolt rope frayed, as I've seen in other boats, raising the headsail would be a 2-person job.  … Also, I've made a mental note to purchase two shackles with 90 degree twists for the headsail at first opportunity.

Jobs remaining are (1) refilling an LPG cylinder (2) provisioning (3) re caulk a slightly leaky cabin window (if I have time)