New Rigging / Mast Refit

[waterdog]

I've been getting behind on my sewing. 

I spend my days at the rigger's shop playing with my stick.   If you ever have a couple of weeks to spare and cooperative rigger, I would highly recommend it.   I pulled every bit of hardware off, sanded every corroded little bit to bare metal, washed in acid twice.   Stewart, the rigger primed and applied several coats of new paint.   Now every bit of hardware has been inspected, polished and reinstalled with backing, nylon washers etc.  My confidence in the whole rig has increased a hundred fold. 

A few thoughts to share:

-It's a hell of a sturdy rig.   Stewart just laughed at me when I inquired about upsizing the stays and shrouds.   They are already upsized.

-About half of my clevis pins were signifcantly corroded.   The ones marked "England" were in great shape.   Some unmarked ones were in bad shape.   I have no idea which were new/old upper/lower.   Pull yours and have a look.   If these were original pins and they carried on corroding at that rate I was maybe only three or four decades away from rig failure.

-Pull the bolt that holds your gooseneck.   Mine was signifcantly worn.   Probably only a decade from failure. 

-The through bolts on the mast that hold the tangs for upper and lower shrouds were interesting.   These were fitted with compression sleeves made from aluminum and were a half inch too short!    One sleeve was completely fused to the bolt and since it was inserted backwards at the factory the bolt had to be cut to even remove it.   Interestingly there was no deflection of the mast surface in this area because the mast section is pretty heavy any way. 

- I have a new spinnaker crane that is angled off to starboard to keep the spinnaker halyard clear of the furler.   I won't have a spinnaker until I get back to the sewing machine so I don't know if the old one would have been a problem.   Sometimes you just rely on professionals for advice. 

Now I'm all set.  New halyards all around.  New wiring.   LED tricolor / anchor light at the masthead.   New radar.   All new blocks for the mainsheet and halyard.   I just need to pour a little tequila on a rag and wipe up any stray lanacote and I have rig ready for Mexico.   

[waterdog]

Whoops.  Three other thoughts that might be worth sharing:

The original halyard sheaves have a pressed in bronze bushing that rotates around a steel pin.  These bushings wear over time and the sheaves get wobbly like a bent bicycle wheel.   Huge increase in friction.   Others have remarked what a huge improvement ball bearing sheaves are.   I have no doubt.  But then again what happens to the bearings over time?  I don't know.   So call me cheap or conservative, but i just pressed in new bushings in the bad ones and now they are like new.   

There are 4 sheaves at the masthead.  You could have two jib halyards and two main halyards.   I'm interested in the redundancy, but not necessarily the extra cost and weight aloft.    So, I positioned the main and jib halyards to one side of the masthead and ran another halyard over the top of both sheaves on the port side.   Both ends come down the mast fore and aft on the outside.   Now I have a spare main and a spare jib halyard depending on how I use it.  (This is not a racer's solution...)

When the stick goes back in, I will not have any clevis pins at the base of the aft lowers.  Instead, half inch shackles.    They make great secure attachment points for a preventer.   At least that what Stewart tells me...  I'll let you know how it works out.  If I like it I may put them forward as well and use them for dingy tie downs.

[Jon Schneider]

So call me cheap or conservative, but i just pressed in new bushings in the bad ones and now they are like new. 

Cheap!   

When the stick goes back in, I will not have any clevis pins at the base of the aft lowers.  Instead, half inch shackles.    They make great secure attachment points for a preventer.... If I like it I may put them forward as well and use them for dingy tie downs.

Brilliant!   

[Rick Allen]

Don't forget to put the coin in the mast base!

[waterdog]

OK, so what is protocol here?   

Do I put in a 1988 American quarter to match the year and place of manufacture of the boat?   A 2009 Canadian loonie to match the year of the restep and mental condition of the owner?   A Mexican coin for good luck on the upcoming voyage?   Or a Korean 100 Won coin just to keep the next owner scratching his head?

[Jon Schneider]

No, no, no.  It's all different nowadays.  You put your highest-interest, biggest balance credit card under the mast, so you can't spend anymore. 

[Rick Johnson]

Personally I'd go for a 1988 Silver Eagle and a 1988 British 1 Pound Sterling proof...  That way you are covered on both sides of the Atlantic.... The ferryman will be happy with anything silver....

Cheers,

Rick

[Stu Jackson]

We put a loonie under ours when we redid the SR.  An American dollar would work, but for where you're going, how about a wheelbarrow full of pesos?

[David Sanner]

Swaping out the brass sheave bushing eh?  I like it...

I've heard that standard sheaves (non ball bearing)
work the best for something that is under constant load
with little movement for extended periods as the ball bearings
can distort (and perhaps the races as well) over time....
for example what the sheave for the jib halyard experiences.

And then there's the problem of getting dirt in the
ball bearings over time ... and cleaning is no easy feat.

With my 3/8" main halyard I can pull up the main by hand the
entire way (jumping at the mast & most of the way in the cockpit)
and I doubt my 21 year old sheaves have ever been serviced.

[Jon Schneider]

Dave, everything you write makes sense.  That said, last year, I swapped out my 18 year old OEM masthead sheaves for new ball-bearing sheaves, and can't believe the difference.  They've only been in service for a year, but no problems or noticeable wear so far.  My halyard is run back to the cockpit, so I don't jump the mast to raise main, and the lateral effort I give is a little less efficient than a vertical one.  I can raise my main 90% of the way (maybe 98%, but I give up before that) without a ton of effort now.  I could do nearly the same before the sheave change, but it was much more of a work out.  My 14 year old (and skinny) nephew can raise her about 60% before giving up, and before the sheave change (albeit also a year younger) couldn't get the main up much beyond 40%.  So, the change makes a big difference.  Can't say how good it would have been if I had taken the lower-tech route that Steve is considering.  Obviously, this is only a nice-to-have, not a priority.  In light of how infrequently your mast might be down and how long this upgrade will last, it seemed a good investment at the time. 

[Steve Sayian]

Why not use a $100.00 Monopoly Money bill?  It has more value than any other currency...

[Braxton]

Use a nice new shiny US penny.   The high Zinc content will help prevent electrolysis :)

[waterdog]

I just wrote a long response to a question on mast fittings under a vang / preventer thread.   Whoops.   

I solved the problem of the coin under the mast.   Over in the galley we have a cup full of spare change.   I had my choice of any coin I wanted.   

So I got out of the boat, walked up the ramp and over to the rigger who was busy giving directions to the crane operator and I interupted him.   "Stewart, do you have a loonie?"  He fumbled around in his pocket and found a shiny gold Canadian coin.   So I took his dollar and put it on the mast step.   

Somehow it just seemed right.   

[Ron Hill]

Steve : I snapped on a caribiner(sp?) shackle in the lower opening of both of the aft lower turnbuckles for the preventer to attach to.  Did that 20 years ago and have never had a problem.  Works great with a 4:1 block & tackle (same same - soft vang). 
When not in use it's stored under the mast from the vang bale to the goose neck. 
I'm very happy that I went to ball bearing sheaves, especially on the main.  Think you'll really notice it if you have a full battoned main.   A thought