...and it's up....

...and so the jolly boys convened on a beautiful sunny Monday Bank Holiday for the annual (as that is all three old men can manage) effort, to get a successful (mast) erection.. 

I was on board from 12'ish (HT was 3'ish), and while I waited for the guys to arrive I got on with a few jobs..  First I completed the much needed replacing of the fenders on the tender - I use old fishing floats on a line tie-clipped to the thwart for this, but the old line was frayed beyond being of any use..  all line was replaced, and the floats re-attached with new tie clips..

With time to spare I then moved on to a little job that I really hadn't thought would be quite as successful as it turned out to be..  at the Southampton Boat Show I had bought a couple of stand up block springs with the aim of making the jib sheets run better in the tacks, with a bit of time to spare it was time to see if I could make them work..  50% I would say, as one fitted perfectly due to an old breakage on the sliding car in the past, that had been repaired (successfully) by a previous owner with an eye strap - bottom line the spring was a perfect fit, and I ended up with exactly what I wanted..

Boom! Perfect..

..the other side however still has the original large eye (which I have subsequently found to be called a Bullseye fairlead) which on the port side at some point had sheared and been replaced by that eye strap...   come next winter, or sooner if I can find something, I will do the same or figure out a way of replacing it with something similar as clearly the spring would not fit over the bullseye...

Mine is a considerably older version of this..

....the track is original and 50 years old - I'd rather not have to replace it all, so a replacement car is what I'll be looking for...

...at which point Rod and t'other Dave turned up - this year powered by his new Torqeedo Travel outboard [clicky] which is a thing of some amazement - amazing bit of kit and stupidly quiet...

Now many lessons continue to be learned about this whole process despite the fact that it must be at least the 15th or 20th time we've done it over the years, and this year was absolutely no different, but I am delighted to say up front, that the mast is up, and in terms of "pain in the ar*e'dom" it was a 7 out of 10 year...

Remembering Rod the Mods athletic efforts last year I opted to leave the mast entirely roped down until they were all on board, so happily the windex managed to survive the arrival.. after that,

1. unwrap everything, 
2. make sure all ropes and rigging wires run straight, 
3. slide the mast back, 
4. attach foot to the tabernacle on the top hole, 
5. attach the back stays remembering to run them under the back board (lesson learnt previously),
6. attach the cap shrouds leaving them loose (lesson learnt previously), 
7. attach the A frame feet to the chain plates for the forward lowers
8. attach the rear lowers leaving them loose
9. attach main sheet from bow roller to bottom of A frame peak - ensure it's fast
10. attach jib halyard to top top of A frame peak - ensure it's fast
11. adjust jib sheet so that the A frame sites at about 120' to horizontal (ie. inclined towards cockpit) as that means when the mast is up the A frame is not on the foredeck and you have room to detach..

 ...and then we hauled and up she went to 45' with Rod checking for fouls, and 'tother Dave heaving..  "all stop"..  uh oh...  down again..  new lessons learned for #8 - make sure they are run behind the cap shrouds (or just leave them off, period.. ), hauled again and up she went sweet as a nut...

Forestay was a pain in the wat'sit however, but freed up lots of back stay, freed up the cap shrouds a bit, stood on the roller, and after having lost one clevis in the oggin, Smithy (who had turned up on his kayak) managed to get a full set of washer/pin/washer combo's in and secure... done..

Pork pies and beer were then consumed, libations made to Neptune and the boat for a good season, and having said good bye to the team (seriously - thanks guys, much appreciated) it was tidy up time...  all stays attached and tightened up to support the mast, A frame and crutch cleared away, main sail bent on and hoisted (super happy with the new new sail numbers and class insignia), new sail cover put on (very happy - good quality cloth and manufacture for the price), all squared away, washed the deck and cockpit down, and home in time for fish and chips..  it doesn't get MUCH better.. 

Damn they look good... ooh, and a windex where it should be!

Next - put the jib back on, tension up the stays to the correct levels, and then go sailing..  but not before Storm Hannah rolls through, so aiming at Sunday...