Shakin down some shakedown tasks (to stop me shaking!)
13 November 2020 | Hastings
Steve Leicester
I pulled into Hastings to attend to a couple of tasks that arose from my Shakedown sail from Brighton.
While most of the lines on Galatea are old, breakage would usually be an inconvenience. Breaking a halyard and losing it into the mast would be a major inconvenience, but not of itself a safety issue.
However the breakage of the furler line on the large overlapping genoa could be rather fun as it would mean the entire Genoa would be out which in a breeze might not be so good. By the time I got to Westernport the Genoa fuller line was fraid to the core. Was replacing it easy? Fraid knot! But tis done. (Curse on all furler designers!)
In Bass Strait it was evident that the windvane had never been installed properly. Secured by a clamp at deck and then to the pushpit only. So in a sea you get to watch the pushpit moving like a metronome. Although I had installed a loveseat to strengthen the pushpit, at some stage, by my best reckoning as I approach Cape Horn but possibly as I cross Bass Strait, the windvane will work my pushpit off and both it and a very big and heavy windvane will be flapping around Galatea dangerously.
I could have ordered a lower strut kit from the windvane's UK manufacturer but this costs $1000 And I'd have to wait 4 weeks for it. Instead, yesterday I spent several hours walking around town to acquire fittings, stainless tube etc to construct and fit the triangulated struts to the lower part of the vane per the pic.
Enough boring maintenance chat. Time to be a rat and head into town for some pie (and beer).