A view from the mast...
01 February 2017 | Baie Vaiaeho, Raiatea, French Polynesia
Bill
We always feel that it is good to go up the mast from time to time. Check the rig, check the blocks, check the cables... and take some photos!
I was re-installing our anemometer, which is something that seems to not work more than it works. We like knowing wind speed. Most of the time it is interesting, and sometimes it helps making a decision. Reef or not, head off or not, pull anchor and move or not.... just another piece of data we like.
We use the same kind of rig that is used by Evans Starzanger and Beth Evans on Hawk. Whenever one of us goes up, we always do a safety, using another halyard around a winch and tailed, in this case by Lara who is on the bow, out of the way should I drop something. Isobel keeps herself out of the way too!
Today I found that our VHF cable has been degraded by the sun and the casing is all cracked. Every cable that I have worked on in the past few years that is exposed to the sun, I have added an additional layer of heatshrink tubing around... the VHF cable was installed in 2009! I guess it doesn't owe me anything... and it is yet another project...