San Diego: rigged
San Diego: rigged
The last rigger made the last half turn on the turnbuckle on the starboard lower shroud just after 1:00 p.m. yesterday, pinned and taped it, and said good-bye.
In a photograph the new rig doesn’t look much different than the old, but in person it does, particularly as you will see in time, the boom; and almost everything is new, from the one size larger than standard rigging, to line mostly hidden below deck for the backstay adjustor, to the Windex on the masthead.
Those few pieces that were not replaced now, such as the headstay and halyards, I have already replaced and have only a few hundred miles on them. Only the spinnaker halyard remains from when GANNET was GROWLER.
If you were Webb Chiles, one difficulty you would face is that sometimes you are trying to solve problems no one else has considered. This was true of my first two circumnavigations, and may be true of GANNET. To their credit, I think these riggers got into the spirit of what I’m trying to do and realized that they were not preparing another small boat to sail in San Diego’s light winds. They made several suggestions and improvements that I appreciate.
After Scott left yesterday, I scrubbed the deck, sorted out halyards, replaced whipping on some lines I noticed needed it, took a few photos , and came below intending to post this entry. However, I found that my MacBook Pro wouldn’t charge and the battery was low. Apple power adapters are notorious. I am with the multitudes who wonder how a company that makes such great products can’t make a power adapter which lasts and suspect that this is intentional.
This morning the laptop is charging, but I may bike four miles to the nearest Apple store and buy another $79 power adapter anyway.
I need to fill four holes in the deck from fittings that were removed to install the new mast and won’t be needed any more, and go to a supermarket, before sailing away for several days. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe Saturday. Maybe later.
I don’t usually check the weather forecast here. It is mostly perfect day after day. But I heard mention on a Los Angeles news radio station this morning of rain this weekend. That doesn’t seem possible. Sailing in rain off Southern California in the summer would be absurd.
Thursday, July 25, 2013