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I got there at 2:00 Marina was nice enough to give me a 3:00 Friday afternoon Mast Stepping party...which was cool cause at 3:30 a 50 mph wind whipped thru with a short downburst and we had just enough time to get the mast in and get fore and aft stay and lower shrouds secure....wind was from the aft so most of the pressure was carried by the stay...would hate to have seen it blow in from the side with just the lowers secure...
After that it cleared up and I got 'er rigged and ragged and wired up ready for Saturdays Launch...Had a couple new toys I wanted to play with...
First thing I fell in love with was the Tiller Pilot....motored out, set a course to the wind, and had all the time in the world to raise and trim the sails without being blown in circles or off track as I solo set the lines...
Next thing I enjoyed was the line clutches rather than cam cleats on the halyards so easy to pull thru tighten up on the winch and lines set...no more fighting a tight line trying to get it in the cams without loosing ground...
Cam cleats were moved out to sheet winchs...and there they save me the hassle of tying and untying cleat hitch(s) every time I tack...
Adjustable topping lift means no more un hooking boom and setting to mast every time I raise/lower the sails...including reefing which I can now pull down with a single line system...
Sailing is getting sooo easy now...
Ohh and my new sail (new to me/e-bay) is so much crisper and better shape than the 35 yr old original I pointed higher/tighter and went faster for any given wind speed...also very cool...
Only bad thing is my CB is sticking at about a 1/4 way down...6"-8" wouldn't go up or down from there (although it did come back up when I bedded the keel on the trailer).. Sails OK with just the shoal Keel, would probably point even higher with it functional...
First (once the bays warm up) I'll dive on it and see if I can get it opperational...otherwise looks like a short haul is in my future (will probably change out the pendant cable at the same time)
Overall good weekend, Glad to be back on the water...