Saturday 19 June 2010

Mast is... (part 3)

...up!!! laughing smileys

..and just to prove it - here's Papillon looking like a proper boat again..

I dragged in a couple of "willing volunteers" to help me put it back up (thanks Dave, thanks Rod!) as although the mast is not big - it is long and awkward...

As it turned out the mast went up far easier than it did last time - last time we struggled with the back and forestay, this time Chris (the rigger) had added an inch to the forestay and it went back together far easier...

After the usual fun and games getting the mast straight (lay your head on the deck looking straight up the mast track - it foreshortens the view of the mast and allows you to see any bends more easily) we packed, and moved the boat back to her original position...

Happily Dave is an electrician so I took the opportunity to get him to deploy his magic box of tricks (volt meter...) to identify which of the two deck plugs belonged to which of my two mast lights. When the mast went over the side it stripped the wires from the plugs so I need to wire them back in again, but before I could I need to figure out which one went in which... he also confirmed for me that the truly ancient solar panel on the back is defunct, it is no more, it is an ex-solar panel, etc etc. No surprises, the panel is very old and has had it's time - I'll remove it and the associated wiring when I have a moment.

Last of all a view of the truly elegant fix that Chris the riggers mate put together - this is a solid piece of kit. All in all - very nice and everything is coming together...

I'm aiming to put her back in the water next Tuesday (22nd) on the early tide and I can't wait - my Dad is down at the moment so we went down today to give her a solid wash, she's looking almost ready but I have a little work still to do - the sails need to go back on if nothing else!

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