Managed to get the family out for a blast around False Bay yesterday afternoon. Sometimes getting out for a sail with wife is like a logistical operation. Much easier when you go out with your mates...Everybody automatically knows what to bring and all we need to do is set a time. Also whoever arrives first can start preping the boat..
Anywho, it was great to get out in the bay on a Sunday afternoon in a fresh breeze with the girls. I have put in an old stay sail into the roller furling as a trail and this has proved difficult as it is far shorter than the original sail and when I turn the roller the halliard is twisting around the forestay. I have checked the bearings etc and all is fine with the furler but the problem appears to be with the distance between the head of the sail and the block that the halliard runs through. I think that the gap is too large which allows the halliard to wrap itself around the forestay.
To get around this problem I removed the halliard from the head of the sail and left it in the slot.
This arrangement works for a while but I noticed that the sail slipped down in the furling slot and started to take on bag out at the bottom especially, when it was windy.
Then the UV strip peeled off and started flying out at 90 degrees to the boat. It was time to furl up the Genny and head for home. We had a rough ride back to Simon's Town from Muizenburg under the main alone and had some large 6 foot rollers getting around the headland, so I decided to start the donkey to expedite the trip home. This improved the morale of the crew who had not experienced such large swells before and we headed back to the marina. Got home quickly and tied up. The crew disappeared and left the skipper to do the tidying up (something wrong there) but they all agreed that they enjoyed the day's sailing.
I now need to make a proper arrangement for a genoa and carry on with my to-do list. Currently it has the following activities on it;
a) Mast Compression post antirust
b) Interior fresh water pump repleacement
c)Strip and repaint the deck and cockpit
d) Either sand and revarnish the floor or cover with teak and holly laminate flooring
e) Remove old radar fitting off the mast
f)Install a new forward bilge pump
g) Replace the old perspex in the portholes

Im sure there is more but that is the current list.