Facebook helpfully reminded me that exactly a year ago I was leaving on my round-the-island trip, which bummed me out a bit as instead of leaving on an adventure I’ve been lying around with a heavy cold, feeling sorry for myself while dripping snot everywhere like a shitty water fountain.
Compounding the issue is the fact I have like 5 projects on the go and haven’t even got close to finishing any of them – which sucks.
In the last couple of weeks I’ve
- Taken out a chainplate, got 6 new ones made. Haven’t replaced them all yet as I still need to find an electropolisher. You know what’s not fun? Trying to carry 7 four foot long chainplates back home from the metal shop on a bicycle. I MISS YOU LOLA THE COROLLA
- Took out the alternator, got a replacement. 63amps (old one was 30) and it’s setup for external regulation. I’ve got the external regulator, but haven’t set it up yet as it’s kind of a DIY job. This was needed because…
- My lithium batteries arrived. But I still need to switch out the alternator, install a new charger and install/program my BMS system. As well as mounting them in the new locations. So they are sat under my table right now.
- I resealed my hatch above the V Berth – but I screwed up and put my hand in the new caulking as it was drying and totally messed it up. I thought I salvaged it only to find a stream of water running onto me in the middle of the night. So yeah, I somehow made it worse. FANTASTIC. GOOD JOB PARSONS YOU TIT. Add to the ‘redo’ list.
- One thing I did manage to do was redo a lot of my running rigging – all new rigging for the main halyard, and I also installed a Cunningham and moved the outhaul to the cockpit. But even there I need to install my new jib halyard, replace outhaul line and rig up the last two reef lines.
Despite sounding like a word that is made up to confuse lubbers, a cunnigham is actually a line that attaches a couple of feet up the sail and can be pulled down to flatten the hell outta the luff. Technically you could do this by tightening the halyard, but a cunny is waaaaay easier to adjust on the fly. Definitely part of the ‘sail better, idiot’ program. To make it, I spliced in a loop into a length of Dyneema (I’m getting pretty good at splicing) and attached that to a cunny hook
Top half of the cunny
This is the bottom half of the cunny. It’s run back to the cockpit but also has a cam cleat on it so I can use it while reefing (I’m going to use it for the luff portion of the reef setup)
I also finished my running rigging plan – all the reef lines will terminate at the mast, and then I have four lines each side going back.
Port side:
- Spinny Halyard
- Boom Vang
- Cunningham
- Mainsheet
Starboard side
- Main Halyard
- Jib Halyard
- Spare Halyard
- Outhaul
And that’s it.I haven’t been out in MONTHS, and it’s really bumming me out a bit. I got my chainplate/alternator reinstalled so I can hopefully go out next weekend – heres hoping!
Edit: Oh, I also got to 200 facebook likes(!!!) and over 100 subscribers through WordPress/email (!!!!!!) – so thank you to everyone who reads and comments! It helps validate me writing this stuff. I promise I’ll try to have more interesting stuff soon than me whining about how hard boat projects are.
I think I was your 100th subscriber 😛 You have some great content – looking forward to living vicariously through you as you plan for your trip next year. I don’t know if you ever do the Wednesday night races, but hit me up if you are looking for crew.
Thanks Paul! I don’t actually race my boat on Wednesdays – there are no races near me unfortunately, so I race on my friends boat