Would You Believe ICE?

SHIP'S LOG:

     Well the day has finally arrived! The First Day of SPRING! For those of you who have forgotten, the "First Day of Spring" arrives when I unwrap ABISHAG from her winter covering. And that was today! And there was ICE covering a puddle of water on one of the tarps covering the forehatch. Granted, it was only a very thin pane, but still, it was there. However, it did not prevent the unwrapping and the arrival of SPRING!

     Friend Fred showed up and we tackle the furling drum issue. It appears that it got well and fairly tagged either by the boom of the other boat or the tree and there was a slight arcing in the bearing holder, as well as the "arm of ring" - a stainless steel circle attached to the bearing holder to encase the line that operates the furler -  being "slightly out of true. It was not enough to trash the whole thing an buy a new one, but enough o require some "adjustments to make it work right, or as close to "right" as we could get. And since it was not an electrical problem, it meant that it could be fixed with a hammer judiciously applied. I supplied the hammers and Friend Fred supplied the expertise and within an hour, it was working. Friend Fred took the furler home as a piece of the sail foil needed to  be extracted and it wasn't something that could be done with the tools aboard. But what it comes down to is that, unless something goes serious wrong, I have just saved 4 Marine Units ($2,000)

     We are going to have to replace three sail foils but aside from that right now it appears that that should be it. Kevin, from the sail loft will check the rigging and re-set it and ABISHAG should be good to go.  That leaves only the straightening of a could of the lifeline stanchions and the un-warping of the bow pulpit, and the expense should be done. I will have to fine out if I can get a boost up the mast as the transponder for the non-working wind speed-&-direction instrument display
has been knocked loose and needs to be secured or removed and the windex is missing and needs to be replaced. It would also be a time to check the radio antenna.  There is no way anyone is going up the mast before the rig is secure, so if the yard has lift of some kind that can reach that high, up I go.

     Actually, I am excited. I can hardly wait. I may even do the bottom paint this weekend!