Mainsail at Loft, Fiberglass Work

I was up at dawn yesterday to find the wind very light and after breakfast I serviced the 1st of the two remaining winches.  At 9 AM I telephoned Steve at North Sails and suggested that I raise the mainsail for him to come and see. He agreed and by the time he arrived at 10.15 AM the mainsail was fully up. I had the usual difficulty of raising the sail from the cockpit using the winch so I jumped the halyard at the mast and I got the sail 4/5 of the way to the top with amazing ease. Even though I purchased a top of the line turning block for the base of the mast, I reckon that that 90 degree turn is what has been causing my problems. I am going to experiment with jumping the mainsail halyard at the mast as far as I can, cleating it off, taking up the slack to the winch, then going back to the mast and undoing the cleat. If this works I may put a winch at the mast and do the raising from there.

Vent to be removed and deck sealed

Mainsail up, with Stack Pack hanging down

Nice clean layout with no lazy jacks or stack pack

Note two existing sets of reefing points

Steve and I had a very good session. He liked the sail, stating that it was of good heavy material and well reinforced at the various stress points. He could tell by looking that the sail needed a third reef and he described just where he would put the new reef line, about 2 meters above the 2^nd reef along a line of stitching mid way between two battens. He asked me to send data on my storm trysail to give him an indication of how much area of sail the 3^rd reef would yield. 

This morning I sent him the following data on the trysail:   luff: 4.61m (15' 2"), leech 5.81m (19' 1"), foot 2.91m (9' 6.5"), yielding an area of 6.7 sq meters (72 sq ft).  This compares with the 144 sq ft that I calculated for the mainsail at the 2nd reef.  The third reef should give me an area between the two.  I also told him that the mainsail and stack pack dated from 2005.

He had a look at the clearance between the boom and the spray dodger when the full mainsail is up and found it to be a satisfactory 9".  This will allow him to raise the back of the spray dodger 2 or 3 inches, allowing drainage of water forward along the top and making my access to the companionway a bit easier.  Before he left I asked him if he had all the information that he needed to proceed with the new spray dodger and the canvas to be fitted to the sides of the cockpit frame and he replied that he had everything that he needed.  I reminded him that I would need the side tracks for the spray dodger so that I could fix them into position ahead of time.

He expected to visit the club this morning at around 10 AM and could have two of his men pick up the mainsail, so I undertook to have the sail on the deck ready for the pickup.  I started off by removing both lazy jacks and as I did that I realized what a great job I had done in setting them up in Argentina.  They were strong, well fitting, and would have lasted for years.  Nevertheless it felt great to bring them down, although I packed them away carefully just in case I find later that I need them again.  I then removed the stack pack (sail cover) and folded it way, although most likely I will put it in the garbage where it belongs.  I say that in spite of the great work that Pato Salas had done in Argentina to repair and improve the stack pack.  After his work it was a joy to zip and unzip it and the plastic tubes on the side were now straight and matched the blue color of the canvas material.  Nevertheless there is only so much a patch up can do to to improve a fundamentally flawed design.  I then freed the mainsail and spent over an hour flaking it across the boom as best I could then lashing it in a bundle with about 7 straps and laying it on the side deck.  I forgot to mention that Steve had told me that the battens would not have to be removed, which saved me a lot of time and effort in removing them and later re inserting them.  It meant, though, that the bundle was quite long.

This morning about about 10.15 two men came and carried the sail on their shoulders with no problem.  While they were here one of them asked me what work was to be done on the sail.  After I told him he asked me when I would be departing Cape Town.  When I told him early March he replied No Problem because they'd have the sail back in about a week. 

I then attacked the starboard quarter berth in earnest and gave it the best cleaning since leaving La Paz.  While I had the opportunity I sprayed liberal quantities of WD 40 on the joint there the autopilot linear drives meets the steering quadrant.  I then repacked the area and must have made a few improvements because at the end there seemed to be more free space and light coming in from the side window.  When that was finished I cleaned the area between the quarter berth, taking the trouble to lift the floor in order to inspect and clean the area around the propeller shaft and dripless packing.  Then I figured that as long as the area was clear I may as well drain some fuel from the bottom of the diesel tanks.  The port tank required a piece of wire to get things flowing but thereafter it flowed well and I got neither water nor those black gooey globs associated with algal growth.  The port tank was just as good, with no evidence of water.  I was pleased and relieved at this, given the extremely rough seas that we had encountered on the passage from Brazil.  I worry about water entering the tanks through the air vents.

It is interesting how random events can lead to a productive result.  A few days earlier I had taken a photograph of the fiberglass work being done on Vinny's boat to seal the holes left in the hull after the marine head had been removed.  I remembered marveling at the ease with which these fiberbglass men could fill in a hole capable of withstanding the stresses of an ocean passage.  This morning I tripped twice on that useless vent on the side deck.  It was a vent retrofitted by some ham fisted person from the look of the hole that he cut through the side deck, so that an exhaust fan could suck up cooking fumes from the stove.  When I purchased the boat I found two bare wires, so my guess was that sea water had come down the vent and ruined the fan.  For me it was a leak-prone tripping hazard.  Pretty well on the spur of the moment I went to Action Yachting and asked it they could arrange to have the vent hole fiberglassed over.  Within 20 minutes David, the manager who had been so helpful with my communications dongle, was at the boat and we discussed the job.  Their patch will have a smoother surface than the non-skid texture of the boat's but will flush with the deck and plenty strong enough.  David will schedule the job for next week.  It will be great to never have a leak from there again and never again trip on the vent scoop.

In the afternoon I set off to find the bus that would take me into the city.   The bus station was actually quite close to the marina.  I walked to the end of the marina then  up some steps to pedestrian foot bridge that took me above the may rail tracks and the highway.  However, halfway along the footpath is a set of stairs that leads to the bus station.  It may be a bus, but in all other aspects it is more like a train, complete with dedicated roadway, platform, and side access like a subway.  At the station I purchased an electronic card and loaded it up with enough for 10 trips.  The end of the line is the Civic Center, which was only a short walk from the heart of the city.

I wandered around the city until I found  a unisex salon and got a terrific haircut from Dulcie.  We chatted away about my sailing adventures and when I told her that I was going to shave off my beard she offered to cut the bulk of it off with her electric cutters, leaving me with just a stubble to shave off.  The hair, eyebrows, beard, and mustache trim came out to only 100 rand.  I then went on to the Food Lover's Market and got another 3 days' supply of food.  I then took the bus Thibault Square in the middle of the city to the Civic Center where I caught the bus back to Woodstock Station, my stop.

When I got off the train I saw the clouds cascading down the face of Table Mountain like an avalanche and knew that we were in for a big blow at the marina.  The clouds are known as "The Tablecloth" and are a sure indication of strong winds at the marina.  Sure enough walking along the footbridge was a challenge and the marina jetties were a particular hazard, certainly a danger for light adults or children.  I turned on the wind instrument and saw a gust of over 45 kts but I wouldn't be surprised if some were reaching 50 kts.

 I then went for a shower then had my first shave since Brazil.  While I was toweling off an older gentleman came in wearing diving gear.  After a couple of minutes he said "Did you go around the Horn?"  "Wow, news gets around fast." I said.  He replied that he had noticed the ring on my ear, which I had totally forgotten about.  I explained how I had indeed rounded the Horn west-to-east with the cape to my left, which entitled me to wear the ring on my left ear.  As I left I thanked him for noticing the earring and its meaning.  He was the first that I know of, and I hope that there will be others.

Afterwards of course was the obligatory half liter glass of cold draft beer.