The old main sail halyard (line with which you hoist the sail) was beginning to disintegrate. The halyard runs from a cleat at the bottom of the mast, up to a pulley at the top of the mast, and back down to the sail. You might think that you would have to climb to the top of the mast to replace the halyard line, but that's not the case.
Sewed the ends of the old and new halyards together. 
Taped the ends together.
Pulled the old halyard and then the connected new halyard through the mast. Cut the old halyard away. Tied the new halyard to the shackle with a bowline knot and cleated the other end.
Friday, May 30, 2008
New Halyard
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5 comments:
Scott,
Only you would sew together two halyards and duck tape it. Hope it holds up in inclement weather. Looks like you two are enjoying yourself inspite of the close quarters.
Rose, this is actually standard procedure for replacing a halyard. Sewn & taped together, the new halyard is pulled through the mast by the old halyard. The old halyard is then discarded, or in my case relegated to backup dock line.
Amy complained last night that this blog post left "her wanting". Something about lack of character development, compelling narrative and a denouement. I'm trying to get back on the blogging horse, especially since the second leg of the journey is about to start. But I'll blame some of the lameness of my posts on her. It's a lot easier to write when there isn't a little blond distraction aboard.
Scott,
Oh Boy! Let's see you are to about to embark on an epic journey North. You and the Admiral need to work together as one, in perfect harmony. In an emergency, both your lives can depend on that perfect harmony thing. Hmmm, not even a week together and you are referring to her as a blonde distraction? I surely hope Amy has good sense of humor. My Wife Meg, read the post (and she is not even a Blonde) and she took it the wrong way. Us guys have to think very carefully about what we say to the Admiral. On a Gemini at sea there are not too many places to escape Her wrath! Be careful what you wish for (and say to each other). This will be a true test of your relationship with each other. If you both make it up north and still Love each other (and still are talking to each other), this was a relationship made in heaven.
Scott, you are very lucky to find a gal like Amy, who wants to share your trip with you. I am sure you know that most gals hate sailing (no secret). I cannot tell you how many folks I talk to at the marina that say how lucky that I am to have a Wife that likes boating. Yes, it seems even power boat couples have the same issue.
We have had some small emergencies crop up when out in the ocean with our gem. By working together, with mutual respect for each other, these issues actually strengthen our relationship. One particular issue left our gem filled with much water and we could have sank (we now have bilge pumps in both hulls and never leave hatches open). We look back at those episodes, and realize who else would you want to trust your life with? While I was at the helm, my faithful Wife bailed the boat with 5 gallon buckets for hours. In the middle of this she got seasick, but kept going because She knew our lives depended on it. How many Gals do you think would want to go out sailing after that kind of episode? How about if that was your first date? Think she would ever want to see you again?
I thank my lucky stars every day that I have a Wife like Meg. I trust my life in her hands, and she trusts her life in mine. I hope your journey has smooth sailing and your relationship never has to be tested to limits as ours has. After 28 years of marriage, I cannot think of another gal I would rather be sailing with and spending the rest of my life with. So lets change AdmiralCranky pants to AdmiralHappy pants and go out of our way to make our gals happy!
Hey Lou, please apologize to your Admiral for me. I certainly didn't mean any offend anyone. I just meant that I had more time and less distractions to craft blog posts when I was alone on the boat. Conjuring up a blog post while sailing or motoring along for hours is a pleasant distraction. It's just that now there are other happy distractions on the boat, and the blog doesn't always get as much attention.
My Admiral seems to be in a much better mood. I think some of her stress came from moving out of her apartment and preparing for the new job in Richmond this fall.
Hopefully this summer will be a mostly fun and not too challenging cruise. I think if Amy had come aboard with me last fall, she'd have left the boat and maybe me by now. But the boat is more seaworthy and I'm more salty now, so we should be able to avoid a lot of the previous challenges and learning experiences. We have a month to get up to Martha's Vineyard, and will take our time and look for good weather windows.
We will leave the marina tomorrow and head over to Fells Point tomorrow. I have a few loose ends to tie up at the house. And I'm still concerned about the outboard. It isn't missing or dying anymore, but it still doesn't sound like it used to. I'm hoping that it was just bad gas. I'll replace the spark plugs and clean the carb before we leave.
Hi Lou and Meg-
Thanks for looking out for us! Just to give the context, we were joking around last night about the lack of literary merit in his recent posts, and he wanted to share the laugh in his comments. I was as unserious with my jibes as he was about me being a distraction. And he's made me feel very welcome and comfortable aboard.
Tomorrow we begin our journey north, and I'm looking forward to it. (Although I do hope I don't end up bailing out the boat with a 5 gallon bucket! Meg must be a gem!)
The Admiral
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