...24 little hours" etcetc...Well not quite a day - more like a week... so what's been happening?? Well I can honestly say that I must have investigated every avenue known to man this week in an effort to get some kind of a rig back on "Papillon"... following the bad news from the insurance company with regard to the first quote (see previous post), I've:
- Made an offer for the rig of another Fantasie 19 that was being sold as a renovation project - never heard back from the owner on that one...
- Checked with Chichester Harbour Conservancy to see if they have any abandoned boats in their pen - too early in the season for that one, apparently they round them up at the end of the summer..
- Put the word out on my sailing club forum.. no joy, but a couple of leads
- Put the word out on the Practical Boat Owner forum... no joy, only a single response but a definite winner (more anon)...
- Requested a quote from SailSpar - cheaper than ZSPAR, but still too expensive by the time I've transported it back home, paid to have all the bits transferred over, etc etc.
- As a result of the lead on the PBO forum I spoke to a local chandlers called The Chandlery Barge [click here] based on the Hamble, who were very helpful people - they have a large number and quantity of used parts, and advised me that they had at least two masts of the right size for me. I was planning to go today, but decided that it really would be sensible to also get a second opinion on repairing the mast..
- So I called Chris at Holman Rigging in Chichester, and as he was over my way last night, I met him down at the boat
Chris crawled all over the boat, I was able to explain to him what I thought had gone wrong, and push comes to shove he tells me "yeah, we can repair that no trouble..".
So, I'm thinking, "Yep, that's what the last chap said" thinking of the bill he had then promptly presented me with.
..and Chris goes on and says, "can't see it being much more than £300 or £400"..
To say I'm delighted is a little bit like saying the Grand Canyon is a bit of a ditch... that's a third of the price of the previous quote... what he said he will do is:
# fabricate a new mast foot in stainless steel, with a long foot that will slide up inside the mast to provide bracing - to do that he'll remove the halyard exit and re-position it further up the mast..
# fix roller furling
# check/re-connect electrics
# replace bottlescrews all round, and
# new forestay
So - immediate plans for a visit to The Chandlery Barge are shelved (but I look forward to going another time as it sounds a fascinating place!) while I await the quote from Chris. I've informed the insurance company but to be honest, in my own mind I'm already ready to proceed, with or without them..
PS. I knicked the picture of Mr. Brooks's "Jelly Bean" off the Fantasie 19 owners site - lovely picture - hope he doesn't mind!...
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