Ready to Go!

We spent the weekend rigging Yumsuch and she is ready to go.  We found a few things out of position, but were able to adapt.  Their engineer, Will, and I had many conversations trying to adapt the new carbon mast and boom to work with my deck and sail configuration.  Our wind generator location also played into the design.   Overall, Composite Engineering hit it dead on. 

When you see the pictures, you will notice that we no longer have the characteristic bend to the mast.  While at the dock, our old mast seemed to bend more than others.  Maybe this was a sign of the problem since we bought it.  Our new one has only a slight bend.

The other big improvement is the sail track.  We have a seamless aluminum Harken track with cars that slide on Teflon guides.  I can raise the sail easily by hand and it comes down with authority.  With the old Stainless Steel track, we used to get hung up where the individual tracks joined.  When freshly lubricated in the spring, everything would work fine.  Then as the season wore on, I would have to forcefully pull the sail down.  Due to this problem, Gary and I developed a track lubricator.  During our trip, I had to use this every day.  Come to find out, this was another sign that the mast was bending too much, causing the track to kink.    Still planning on marketing the track lubricator.  We'll see if we need it as the this season wears on.

I was at the top of the mast 1 week before it snapped and lubricated the track, while checking for cracks, on the way down.  Since the crack was behind the radar bracket, it was not seen.  Who knows, it may have been there when we bought the boat and the surveyor did not see it either.  The new mast is a single piece.  No seam with bolts to worry about.

We plan to leave this weekend to start heading North.  I have a lot of business travel over the next 3 months, so I don't see many miles being made, but we look forward to cruising again.  We plan to cruise Pamlico Sound.  The largest freshwater sound in the country.  Our neighbors, at Osprey Marina, have cruised the area for a long time and provided us with insight and cruising guide.  

Happy 4th of July to everyone.  Now that we will be cruising again, we will start blogging as well.