Friggin' with the Riggin'
Paint all dry on the final coat, happy and satisfied feeling all around, it is time to put it all back together, plus a new addition! ;-)
Since taking the mast down and removing ALL fittings, we have found that some broken deck lights were not even wired up anymore. There was a bird’s nest of wire from a halyard mousing attempt gone wrong and basic neglect here, there and everywhere. Not to worry though, we're in the business of OVER CAPITALIZING and will not skimp on the good stuff here.
On order were a new LED steam/deck light along with custom made stainless protective cage, new LED anchor/tri-light atop, a little globe to illuminate the Windex from underneath at night and a stainless VHF masthead antennae for the radio/AIS.
And not to be forgotten, an all-new furler unit from Reefit in Tasmania. The old Furlex had seen the end of its voyaging and was ready for retirement. I did a lot of research on these, and it came down to a Profurl unit or this one. Profurl is world renown and parts are relatively easy to get if required, but it also has its issues with bearings, grub screws etc.
The Reefit system was lesser known, mainly used around Australia and New Zealand, but I could not find one negative comment or review. People who use this furler were very happy with its performance and reliability and after talking with Mitch Ranson from Almasts Australia P/L down there in Launceston, Tasmania, I decided on them. The piece of mind it gives, when you communicate with someone that can answer your questions on the spot, should definitely weigh in on the decision making. Lucky Danni and I saved up in our wedding account, so from now on it is known as the "wedding furler"!
Back to the assembly of it all, using DuraLac, a messy anti corrosion jointing compound, we tried to make sure to have all fittings and fasteners separated from the Aluminium mast, as to prevent as much future corrosion as possible. This happens when two different types of metal (aluminium, steel etc.) touch while in a wet, salt laden brine environment, where the electrons start to flow and the more 'noble' metal starts to wear/eat away the lesser one. This is why we use zinc anodes on our prop shaft near the propeller and also inside the cooling system in our engine, as zinc is the first material to be eaten by this flow of electrons. A periodic check to see how far it has been eaten away will show when it's time to replace. These anodes sacrifice themselves and it works out a lot cheaper than having the brass prop at the end of the stainless steel shaft eaten away.
New wiring through conduit that's run internally at the front of the mast was also installed. For the wires I chose a 3-strand for the combination steam/deck light and a 5-strand for the test of the masthead lighting. All the wires are marine grade tinned and insulated. It was a tight fit, running these and the VHF coaxial through the conduit, but a little bit of super glide used by eleckchickens, also worked for us.
It' was very satisfying, to be able to put it all back together, after what we had to go through, just to get to that stage! We used 316 stainless rivets for most of the fittings, but went with Monel ones for all the standing rig fittings. These really pack a punch when it comes to "popping" them and made the 316 ones feel like aluminium. They were much harder to find though and we ended up having to order them from two different places interstate. Who would have thought?!?
So, all the fittings back on, spreaders attached, halyards moused, all electronics waterproofed and secured and starting to taste the sweetness of success, it was time to assemble the standing rig and furler. Our rigger had a good look at the Reefit unit and was quiet impressed. Had also made the effort of cutting the foil section to size for us. Unfortunately, it was the only wrong one out of the whole assembly he shouldn't have cut, but luckily it was a minor mistake that was of little consequence in the end. Still, another heart-stopper as we were pushed for time to get the mast back in. Danni and I assembled the furler out on the lawns of the yacht club on a beautiful sunny day... Ohooh, we seem to be missing some parts? Checking, double checking.... Yep, parts missing! Back to the rigger and although he was sure he didn't have them back at his warehouse, it was finally found! A couple of hours lost, but keep punching on, we're looking ok still. Only one problem, the yard stops putting up masts by 4pm, I just had a 'regular' 5pm time finish in my head! Never ass-u-me!!!
Another day to be tacked on, but that was to be the last one!
The next day the rigger checked the handiwork and we all put the mast back in Bela Vida. She looked magnificent and was back, better than her old self.
Still a few more issues arose, we couldn't place the locking nuts on the cap shroud turnbuckles as these seemed a little bit longer and needed to be screwed in further, leaving no room for the lock nuts. I just hope that they won't stretch too much over time now. I was pretty much done with this job and just wanted to have the mast back in, boat back in its berth and me knowing that the rig was sound. In hindsight I should have made the rigger cut new shrouds, but should there be alterations to be made, I would DEFINITELY do it myself using Sta-Lok terminals. From what I have seen in the marine industry, there are very few who actually know what they're doing and have the attitude to do a good, quality job. Still, when you find these craftsmen, hire them, recommend them to others and give them as much of your business as you can. We have to nurture these people, because without them, we're lost to the rest of them. Or do what I'm doing and read up, build knowledge, skill and knowhow and trust in your own abilities. You will care about your boat far more than someone who has been doing his job for thirty years, but just doesn't care. It isn't brain surgery, although they like to make it sound like it is and change accordingly!
Which brings me to Jason, a guy that does beautiful stainless work and we commissioned him to make up the cage for the deck light fitting, in order to protect it from halyards and the headsail. He did a great job, even placed the new creation in our mast, when we couldn't manage to meet up, without having payment even received yet. A trusting soul that we asked to do more work for us during this time (another blog soon). He has done great work and at a more then fair price.
Thank god for people like Jason and Mitch who help restore some faith in people within this industry. I know I sound disheartened, but although it was a labour of love, it had taken its toll.
Some thoughts and considerations on this job and some of the things that I could have managed better were getting all the screws, replacement fittings, rivets, paint supplies etc. prior to reassembly and not on as-needed-basis. Some of these things took quite a while to source and even had to come from interstate.
If you're looking to replace a furler, also check the luff rope diameter of the new unit. The Reefit one utilizes a larger diameter and hence we had to get our existing two headsails altered, another decent kick in the wallet. Another thing to consider with new furlers is the tack/drum height. Does the drum sit so low that the anchor and bow roller get obstructed in its operation? Does the furling line have the same approach to the drum, so it doesn't bunch up in the drum at the top or bottom, but furls neatly and evenly? I still have to figure out on how to lift the drum around 20+ cm with the selection of forestay fittings used. This isn't over yet, more fuel for blogs. :-)
I must admit, I had an expectation that our rigger, after studying the Reefit installation manual, would have advised us a little better. But this wasn't to be, as he was busy happily charging us for cutting the wrong foil section, but he did give us some extra few centimetres on some of our shrouds!
