On It Goes! ! !

SHIP'S LOG:

The cutting and rebuilding of the mainsail was completed on Friday and after hauling it down to ABISHAG I tried to run it up the mast, "tried" being the operative word. The new luff tape (the tape surrounds a cord that fits into a groove that runs up the length of the furler behind the mast) seemed almost too large from the luff groove. It was a very tight fit. I actually had to lube the luff groove so that the luff tape could "slide easily" - a relative and very optimistic review of the event. In truth, it took a warm body, Kevin from the sail loft, a lot of dry lube, a lot of winch cranking, lots of pulling and a rather fair amount of words said under one's breath to get the sail fully raised. Once it was, however, it was a thing of beauty. Even better, if furled and unfurled easily, with not snags, folds, bunches, jamming or binding. The 7 inches removed from the hollow made all the difference in the world. Kevin the pro didn't think all that highly of the FACNOR furling system. In his opinion, it was badly designed and built. He suspected that the installation was not done nearly as well as it needed to be and that the maintenance on it has been rather lacking since it went into place. Why does that not surprise me! Still, it works, it does what it is supposed to do and I am in no position to replace it, so we keep it.

Saturday dawned foggy but with the prospect of the fog burning off and the wind filling in and so it was a day for sailing. The fog did burn off and the wind did fill in, though it remained rather light. I got off the mooring and head down toward Stonington. It is a nice easy sail and there seemed to be a lot of boats down that way. I was doing about 4 knots on a reach and I got to play with the sails, trying to balance the boat . . . steering without touching the wheel or engaging the wind stirring system. It may not sound like it but it actually is a lot of fun experimenting like this. Actually, it is very helpful and necessary learning like this as there will come a time, and that time always comes, when being able to balance the boat will make it safer in bad weather, high seas and strong winds. At the very least, it makes it easier to control and handle the boat.

There seemed to be more boats out on Saturday. The weather has been so crappy that even those who had been holding back appeared to have splashed their boat and had taken them out just to enjoy the weather.

About 5 pm, I head back up the Thames River toward the mooring of TYC. The wind was very light now and against the flow of the river, I was making about 2 knots. Off the New London Ledge light, deciding against a slow sail up river, I kicked on the engine and furled the sails. One they we all furled and the lines were coiled, I sat down behind the wheel, put the boat and gear and motored up river . . . for about 5 minutes when the engine just quit! Died! Shut down like someone had turned the key. I cranked it a couple of times and then realized that I was at the mouth of the Thames River and there were lots of boats everywhere and I was adrift! I bounced up and raised the mainsail and kept moving upriver under main and under control, but in a small pickle. Moving about 1 knot, I could, if the wind kept up from the same quarter and kept at this slow speed, grab my mooring under sail, but I hadn't down so since I owned this boat. I got an insurance flash! and it wasn't pleasant.

As I proceeded up river, I got my phone and called the tea of Cliff & Chuck, the volunteer maintenance members of TYC. They love to work on things that concern boats. As luck would have it, it was "Member Day" at TYC and a cookout was scheduled on the beach and both Cliff and Chuck were there. Cliff got motored out to ABISHAG and helped me moor successfully, but neither was available to help at that moment beyond some speculations to the problem. They both voted on "fuel" - 1.) there was none; 2.) it had water in it; 3.) it was contaminated and had clogged the filters, stopping the flow. In any event, it would be a "relatively simple problem to remedy!" In my experience, it is not a phrase that take much comfort in!!!!