Roller furling pictures

Hurry up and wait

I spent part of the afternoon waiting for the marina crew to launch a couple of boats before they could bring Ariel's mast down to ground level so I could install the new foil, wire our new masthead tri-color, and give the mast a good cleaning. All I managed to accomplish was to run the duplex wire through the mast and tap holes in the masthead fitting to secure the tri-color. It's amazing how much time it takes to do so little.

Thanks to the design of the AquaSignal mounting plate, I had to modify the base to fit alongside the strap on the masthead. Fortunately, my local marine store was kind enough to let me use their bench grinder so I didn't have to make a run home and back. Now that the base is modified, I have to carve a new groove in the light bulb base to orient the dome in the appropriate position. It would have been nice if the manufacturer had included multiple notches to make it possible to mount the light baseplate in different configurations. This is an older unit, so perhaps they have changed the design.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get the foil installed, finish the masthead light installation and wiring, and clean the mast before stepping on Thursday. It's raining now and it's supposed to continue into tomorrow. Hopefully that will change.

Ariel goes high-tech (sort of)

We swore we'd never do it; we're too traditional and it's potentially unreliable. The increased windage is a nuisance. And the expense . . . way too much. We'd rather invest the money in more important things.

Well, we did it.

Ariel is on her way to sporting - not just one, but two - roller furling units. We stopped by the Spin-Tec booth at Strictly Sail Chicago, intending to do some research, and we walked away with an order for furlers for the staysail and jib.

I assembled the foil for the jib today. It was fairly straightforward, although the directions are a bit sketchy in parts. The most difficult part of assembly was inserting and positioning five bushings in each foil section. The directions read "insert the first bushing until you feel slight resistance..." Slight resistance required a whole lot of grunting and brute force - even judicious use of a hammer and wooden dowel.

Tomorrow I'll reattach the headstay and foil, and get the mast ready for stepping on Thursday. No pictures - yet.