Catch up... mast up...

Bit quiet on the log here but things have been going on..

First and most importantly, the mast is up, and this time no (major 😏) issues or concerns like we had last time. A close eye was kept on the flag halyards and they remained well behaved and out of the way - in fact the mast positively shot up, and before I knew it the mast crutch was down for the first time in just over 6 months, and the various wooden supports and the A frame were packed away for yet another year, libations were poured to skipper, boat and Neptune (in reverse order), and my mast raising crew lounged in the cockpit in the sun drinking beer, eating pork pies and talking nonsense..  it was a good mast raise and the Jolly Boys did me proud (as ever)

So I mentioned no major issues - just a minor one - despite having checked twice that all was clear at the mast foot, the cable for the mast head light got trapped in the gap between mast and tabernacle! Irritating but not a show stopper - one, I haven't ever used the mast head light in anger since I bought the boat and installed it, and two, if I have a moment this summer I can just cut either side of the trapped length of cable, connect in a new length of wire, rewire the pug to the new cable and ignore the bit that is trapped until I drop the mast at the end of season (when I'll just throw it away, anyway)..

Then a couple of days later and still aching in every bone (and also with a bad back - I must have twisted awkwardly when raising the mast 😐), I went out to put the sails on..

Again no issues, just a few technical challenges..  

The main was first, which requires main halyard and topping lift to be installed/routed, and also the mainsheet and kicker to be attached, but all done, and a quick raise of the main to confirmed it was running free. Flaked it down and then fitted the new sail cover*.. 

Then it was time for the genoa - now we'd found when we trial raised the mast a few months ago that the luff bread on the genoa was too big for the new furler - simply out it was too thick and wouldn't fit. I'd taken the sail in to the local sailmaker to have a new one fitted, but this was the first opportunity to see if  it would now fit, so there was slight trepidation.. 

Happily no issues at all with it and it fitted exactly, though the slot is definitely snug..  even had to use my old windsurf downhaul tool (like the one pictured left) a couple of times just to get the necessary grip but either way it was up, I then, for the first time ever, got to roll the sail away and my goodness, the difference between new and old was chalk and cheese..  it practically rolled itself away!😁

Shame it rolled the sail inside out (so the UV strip was on the inside), but having unrolled it completely and then rolled it the opposite way and all was done.

Pausing only to tighten the stays slightly, and then put some temporary lockwire on the bottle screws (they'll need tightening again I suspect after the first shakedown sail) to stop them coming undone, I called it a day and dragged my sorry arse, err back, home for a well deserved beer - now all I need is  a decent time of  tide for the first sail of the year - but before that the Jolly Boys are going sailing beginning of next week!

*quality of this was a little disappointing, to be honest - I don't expect them to last for ever, usually I get about 6 years out of them before the material basically disintegrates (and at roughly £60 that works out at a tenner a year - good value basically), but this one is a bit flimsy by previous standards, time will tell...