Commemoration Plaque and Stanchion

Yesterday I mounted a plaque made by Trophy Choice in O'Connor.  It commemorates Pachuca's circumnavigation and rounding of the Horn, and I placed it in the "plaque" section of the bulkhead.  (You can enlarge the photo by right clicking over the photo the selecting "View Image".)

Pachuca's Latest Plaque

I also replace the stanchion bent in that knockover off the Brazilian coast.  I had two choices: a genuine one for $106 or an lighter imitation one at around $43, which Trevor of Yacht Grot did not recommend.  Trevor did not need to tell me that because I've learned the hard way that with boating only the best will do.  Trevor charged me only $90 for the stanchion, which I took to be a "Welcome Back" gift from Yacht Grot.

Bent Stanchion Next To Its Replacement

I managed to drill the required two holes into the base of the stanchion using my cordless drill because fortunately I had a good centre punch and sharp bits.  Soon I had the port rails back up nice and tight.

After this I dropped into Yacht Grot and purchased two fire extinguishers and a pack of flares. (On Monday I'll purchase a recreational fishing license, something new since my departure on the circumnavigation, but a modest $30 per year and allegedly going to a good cause.)

As of of yesterday (Friday) evening at least two boats had made it to Mandurah on their start for Bunbury.  More boats will leave this weekend and several others, including Pachuca, plan to sail on Tuesday when the winds are expected to be favourable.  Most boats stage their passage, making Mandurah on the first day then waiting for favourable winds to make the long leg to Bunbury before nightfall.  Pachuca is burdened with a skipper who feels more comfortable at sea than near land, so we'll set off early in the morning and stay out until we drop anchor in Bunbury.  If the predicted winds come to pass we'll sail well on Tuesday, dawdle along in light winds under the bright stars of the clear summer sky throughout the night, and make landfall in Bunbury on Wednsday.

Rigging is Ready

I was on board yesterday morning when Edgar showed up with the new lower shrouds.  When he was finished with the installation I felt the tension and commented that the shrouds seemed very tight.  He replied that they needed to be tight because they are shorter than the other stays, a fact that I filed away in my head.

He then went up the mast to begin an assessment of the rest of the rigging and to my relief he pronounced it all OK.  I told him that I was worried about the rust that was appearing where the wires meet the swages, which opened up a good explanation of why it isn't rust but rather staining from all of the airborne material that works its way down the wires over time.  I asked him about the American practice of putting silicone sealant at the swages, which is not recommended by the big companies probably to avoid liability issues.  He suggested that a lanolin grease would be safe to use, so I plan to treat all of the boundaries between wire and lower swages with "Lanocote" lanolin grease.

Section of Dyform wire

I am including a photo of a section of the Dyform wire of the new lower shrouds.  Note the smaller wires between the larger wires. The outer surfaces have been flattened slightly.  The effect is a stiffness half way between ordinary wire and rod, with the interior so tightly compressed that it is unlikely that any moisture or material will pass through it.

Inflatable and Outboard Motor

A couple of days I dragged the Bombard inflatable dinghy out of the garage and set it up on the verandah for inflation.  The inflatable came with the purchase of Pachuca and I had stored her in the garage during the circumnavigation.  I also transported the outboard motor to Darlington so that I could try to get it started in a water tank.

Bombard Inflatable Dinghy

I got the outboard motor running on Saturday with little trouble.  This was of great relief because I had not used it since the major maintenance that it had received when I first arrived in Brazil.  Ricardo had done his work well because the engine had plenty of kick and idled beautifully.

On Sunday Brenda and Stephen drove up to have a look at the new kitchen counter and after lunch we inflated the Bombard.  It came up well and held its pressure.  We prefer the Bombard with its inflatable floor to the Zodiac, which went downhill fast after its floor slats broke.  The Zodiac now holds its air pretty well but the floor leaks badly around the seams, and I have placed it in storage as a backup. 

Radar and Rigging

Lower Port Shroud

The guys form Maritime Electronics fitted the new radar cable on Friday morning and got the radar working again. 

I found a card at the companionway when I arrived at the boat and it was from Edgar Vitte, Pachuca's rigger here in Australia.  He gave the the surprising news that I had broken wires in both of my lower shrouds.  As luck would have it Edgar was working at a nearby boat so I asked him to drop by when he was finished at that boat.

I started off by complaining that the rigging was only about 20 months old, installed by what was reputed to be the best rigging team in S America, and using top quality materials.  I then told Edgar that the riggers in Argentina had told me that I could expect 14 years of service from that rig and I recalled telling myself that I would be happy with half of that expected time. 

To my untrained eye the shrouds looked OK at the swage, though on closer inspection I could see that the pattern of the wire was not quite right at the wage.  Edgar leaned over and picked the broken wires out with a small screwdriver. 

Edgar told me that there was nothing wrong with the rigging: the materials were good and the proper tools had been used.  Given what he knew of the history of my rigging problems he had to concluded that there is a design problem.  First of all, the boat is very stiff with her heavy keel and tumblehome hull.  This means that she resists heeling which results in a lot of load on the rigging.  This exacerbates the fundamental problem, which is that the deck fittings of the lower shrouds are not far enough from the mast (1.1 meters in fact).  He told me that having the shrouds so close in results in enormous loading and that moving them even 200mm out from the mast would have huge reduction in this loading.  

Lower Starboard Shroud

I told him that I had blamed my earlier problems on running the rigging too loose, but since Argentina I had kept everything tight with a carefully maintained log of the number of half turns at what date.  Edgar shook the rigging and told me that it was just right - tight, but not too tight, and certainly not too loose.

Edgar presented me with 2 options. The first option was to replace the 10mm (3/8") wire of the lower shrouds with heavier wire.  However, this would require larger toggle pins and turnbuckles, which would cost serious money.  The second option is to use 10mm "Dyform" wire (see http://www.s3i.co.uk/1x19-Dyform-stainless-steel-wire-rope.php) which is a guaranteed 30% stronger than conventional wire.  This is achieved by filling in the gaps between the wire strands with smaller wire strand, resulting in a more solid wire. 

Edgar will replace the lower shrouds with Dyform wire in the coming week and will also check the rest of the rigging for me.

I consider myself lucky because I felt so confident in my nearly new rigging that I had not bothered to check it closely, either personally or through a professional.  It was by my good fortune that Edgar had enough interest in Pachuca to have a quick look at her rigging.