SailBlog

The winds did die down today and the sun came out a blazing, so I have kept moving on the boom project. I have ended up bringing all the pieces below to work on them. I was able to use some brute force and straighten the foot track a bit. The piece I made didn't fit any more though so I may have to make a new one before the final moment of putting it all together. I think it will help the whole project be stronger.

The Tin container was the next thing I had to make fit the shape of the boom, making corners and bending the metal around the shape of the boom. Nothing like working with snipped tin to mincemeat of my fingers... I should have taped up the edges, I guess. It was hard to do with no way to sit the tin down on a table, but I got some reasonable corners made and then applied hose clamps around it all hoping it would smooth is and fashion it to the boom shape. It worked for the most part, but the round of the tin was rounder than the boom... a little extra here and there. I was not sure it would be flat enough to the surface to fit. We will see.

Now it is time to actually get the boom back together. First, I needed to get the reef lines restrung through the mast end of the boom. Unfortunately, I didn't pay enough attention when I started and didn't straighten the snake lines so that the reef lines would be untangled inside... It wasn't until after I had already used the snake lines and put in 2 of the lines, that realized the snake lines had gotten all twisted around each other, meaning that as I was threading the lines back in, they were all crossing each other ... it was all wrong.

So it took me a long time and straining to look down into the boom and slowly untwist the lines until they were all free and there was a clear path for each...but I got it and it worked great on that end...

But then, as I was pulling the lines tight inside the boom to bring the two cut ends together, I realized that I had similar issues... I had not straightened the long lengths of the reef lines in the distal end of the boom before I took the bitter ends and rethreaded them to the mast... so ... I looked at it a long time. I was going to have to redo all the lines. The way they were crossing each other was going to cause problems...I could tell.

Another moment when "necessity was the mother of invention " (Thank you little brother, Scott). Not wanting to go through all that, I started to look at the inner car which had a bitter end attached to it. I had reasoned before that the way the lines were strung, i would be able to use the reef lines in the boom even though the car would not be able to go past the repair area... it was just going to make the line that goes up to the tack too short. The tack line is the second line and it is tied off at the car and goes forward to the mast end around a block and would attach to the reef point tack. The clew end is a continuous line all the way to the mast where I pull to tension the reef point, routed through some blocks in the car and at the end... so it will still work, but no longer a single line reefing system...I will have to attach the tack at the mast.

The saving grace was that I could bring the car completely out of the distal boom piece, untie that end, put a snake in so that I could put the line back...and I untangled the lines by rerouting that line end...

So, that was complicated to type out... and an unnecessary detail, but a writing challenge for the day. I will reread it now and see if it makes sense. You all can let me know if you 'got it'... or if I bungled the explanation.

Ok...I just edited it... I think it makes sense...of course if you haven't ever seen a single line reef system, it may still be a bit cumbersome. In fact, it won't make any sense at all. I could explain as some of you, may not be sailors...like my brother, Brian... I was blessed by the Satellite phone to be able to call him after he had his first heart attack recently. He was in Budapest Hungary, but their cell phone still worked (they have one of those international phones). He was doing fine... and he commented that he really enjoys reading my blogs except for the 'sailing parts'. He was wondering if I could include a glossary of sailing terms...like jib and halyards...what are they? I am sure he was figuring it out as he went along and there is alway Siri or the old fashioned Google search to help. But since then, I have been a little more conscious of those who may not be sailors reading along.

So... Reefing is the way we make sails smaller when the wind blows harder to balance the power on the boat...more wind, less sail is used, keeping the boat upright and able to be steered with a balanced amount of tension on the rudder... more rudder is more friction in the water and slows us down...as does when we are too heeled over.

So... There are lots of ways to reef sails... the most efficient systems allow the sails to be rolled up allowing the sailor to make them any size they want as they roll them up. The headsails, the sails flown off the foreward of the boat, are furled by being rolled up around the forestay that goes from the top of the mast to the bow. For a mainsail, which is flown off the mast and uses a boom (unless it is broken), there is the options of reefing by either rolling the sail up on a mandrail in the boom or a stay in the mast, or you can simply let the sail down and tension a higher clew with its companion tack on the luft at the mast making the sail smaller.

That is the way my boat's system works. There are more or less efficient ways to manage reefing like mine. The old way for me was to drop the mainsail and attach a higher tack grommet to a hook on the end of the boom at the mast. Then I would pull in a line attached from the boom to the new clew through a block at the end of the boom lead forward to a cleat I would tie if off on. It was a lot of manhandling the line to get it tight...but that is the way I did it all the way around the world the last time ...

But this time around the world, I have a new fancy schmancy one line reef system. It uses blocks in the boom and a second internal line so that when I pull on one line, it both tensions the new tack and clew at the same time, with synches at the mast end so that I don't have to cleat off the reef lines... they are held by the friction of the synch. So, now, with the repair of the boom restricting the internal block car from moving forward, I will no longer have the second line able to reach the new tack higher on the mast...I will have to attach it by hand...no big deal.

Once the lines were back in the boom correctly, I did a preassembly of the whole boom box and sleeve on the boom...To do that, the boom is now hanging in the cabin from the handrail above, going out the companionway onto the cockpit seats, and it will stay there until finished... so that had better be soon. It is going to be cold below tonight having to leave the hatches out!

But Voila!!! It is all going to fit. There are some issues with the sleeve taking space but it is all going to smooth out enough in the box...It was good that I did not epoxy the sleeve first...it is going to have to fit its shape to the inside of the box. But in order to put the screws in the last side of the box, I will need to be able to put tension on the sides.

I started to think about tapping screws, an idea which one of the fellas had mentioned in an earlier email. I could tap into the top and bottom tracks to pull the sides in where they need to be. I could also tap into the middle of the rounds, without flattening the boom. Then I would only use through bolts on the ends and on each side of the break. But with the top and bottom secured I could use less through bolts.

So the time has come to take it all apart and put it together with Epoxy, for good. Epoxy work is just a mess as always with me. Every tool was sticky by the I was done. My cabin floor is due to be replaced when I return so that is not as essential..but I am alergic to epoxy fumes, especially when it is curing so I have to be careful not to drip inside. I epoxied and screwed the sides to the oak piece, including that spacer....there is lots of gaps in the joints but I trust the Thixo to fill it in and make it strong. I put it outside to get curing. I was going to keep going and epoxy the rest of the box once it cures but I am running out of time and it is getting cooler. There are temperature limitations for effective curing of epoxy.

The weather is nearly totally becalmed...mixed with gusts ... a strange pattern. It keeps feeling like the wind is filling in and then the wind dies off...and the whole world is banging and clamouring again. But still, I won't be able to get it together tonight. So, I trust, whether the winds are still light (I hope not!!) or if we have the 10-15kts of W winds expected, I will be able to get the next stage done tomorrow... and have it hanging.

I did got tools out to get the bolts from the jib tracks I intend to use to hold it all together. I went and pulled the first one, getting the nuts off, and even as I was still using the drill to bring the bolt up, I began it doubt that it was going to be long enough. Sure enough, it is just as long as all the wood and boom together, but not enough to get the nut on the end. I will try one, countersunk a ways into the oak and see if I can get the nut to grab...but I am skeptical. Losing that strength of the through bolts is a big loss to the overall mechanical fastening so it is going to be important to think through the placement of the tapped bolts. Having the top and bottom secured to the tracks is a huge bonus.

Tomorrow, depending on the weather, I will get going early. By the end of the day, the boom should be ready to fly; but maybe flying without the sail yet...I need a whole day for the Thixo to really cure enough, especially if we end up lacking those through bolts.

Sigh... what a mess. I have the next stage of tools all out, taps and drill bits; and the boom that I bump my head on when I go to make a cup of tea...what a riot ...this place is definitely a Saturday night live skit wanna be. Can you imagine the spoofs between the boom flying, epoxy sticky, tools every arry. So. I will take a few minutes for sure and clean up...Thank God, that balsmic vinegar cuts epoxy as I don't have any acetone...(an overlooked item). So my hands have been doused with salad dressing per sae... beats going to bed with sticky hands.

Oh the wallow. It is going to be hard to ignor, but I have managed to sleep on such nights and I am tired. An incredible sunset is closing out the day. I did try to look up the 'planets aligned' but the stars that the Star pilot chose for sights did not include any planets. It would be great to have a program that just showed them all each night...I am sure there is one...in fact Bob tells me that there is a phone app that allows you to point the phone at the sky and it shows which stars are which. How cool is that? Electronic gizmos can be cool.

We will see what the night brings...hopefully some steady winds from the west.

So...now the idea of tapping screws is going to be extended to managing the whole project. I may be able to use the metal pieces I have to bolt through on the ends where the oak is beyond the box eliminating one thickness of the wood. I will have to see what I can do. Oh, the mind just keeps on ticking over the whole thing, putting the boom back together on step at a time in my head... and then I get stuck at a point where there is an impass...How am I going to get that to happen? And by morning...I will have it figured out...or I should say that Consciousness does. A bit more creative engineering. I will be happy though to spend my creativity on other things than the boom fix soon. I am getting weary.

But I am having fun making videos... one today while I was threading the line into the boom was a classic...so funny watching the antics I go through... It will be fun to put a long video together of all these fixes and such. Lots of photos too... I included a boxed boom shot tonight.

Bob sent on some of your amazing comments...Moe... wow...Down memory lane. Red Dress Racing. I had Women's Heart.org on my boat in Ushuaia when I left... You are amazing. Scott an Kitty...It would be so cool if you can catch up with Bob in Palm Beach. Wow... Thanks brother Scott... Necessity is the Mother of Invention!!! That's it. A totally totally incredble truth when sailing long distances offshore!!!! And big hugs Bonnie and Jeff and all sending on comments. Your energy is keeping me energized and agile enough to climb around on boats, not to mention catalyzing the creative engineering day by day.

Life is grand aboard IS!!!. Keepin On Sailin On Caring... Oh, I know that if I were Bob, each joint would fit, the file would have graced the boom cuts until they sweetly aligned... and yet, I pray that the fix will be strong and secure even though I am Donna... it takes an exponential amount of time to get things really right... and it is most often worth the time. Impatience...I do pray that I have had enough patience to get the project to the 90% of what could be done... I feel pretty confident it is going to be fine. I am trying hard, not that it is hard to try. I am letting it flow... but I confess that the ole' sailor tongue does get going sometimes...

Anthony DeMello, The Way of Love, p47 "This is what fears do; they irresistably rivet your attention onto some things to the exclusion of others. You falsely feel that your fears will protect you, your beliefs have made you what you are and your attachments make your life exciting and secure. You fail to see that they are actually a screen between you and life's symphony. It is quite impossible, of course, to be fully conscious of every note in Life's Symphony. But if your spirit becomes unclogged and your senses open, you will begin to perceive things as they really are and to interact with reality and you will be entranced by the harmonies of the Universe. Then you will understand what God is, for you will at last know what love is."

Fairest of Winds and the Love of the Ocean Only Gratitude Donna

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