May 10-11, 2023 - Wednesday/Thursday

Today I connected the new topping lift to the boom.  It seems to be working fine.  The old one was wire and broke during last year's trip.  This one is Dyneema.  The Dyneema is stronger, lighter and won't chafe on my mainsail.  I may make a few changes when I get home, but it should be fine for now.  Later in the day I had a friend help me get the genoa (large jib) sail out on deck.  I need to inspect it and it is large and heavy.  I'll take a look at it Wednesday.

New boom topping lift

I ordered a new bilge pump today.  My old one was not working too well and the float switch that turns it on had failed.  I hope to have the new one in by the weekend.

When I put on the mainsail, I didn't get the reefing lines run correctly.  I fixed this Thursday morning, then started working on the staysail.  The staysail attaches to the inner forestay on the front deck of the boat.  It is a smaller headsail and is used when the wind gets stronger and I'll used it at night so I don't have to worry much about sail changes in the dark.  It attaches to the inner forestay with little clips called "hanks".  I also set up sail ties so when the sail is down, it can be secured to the deck.

Staysail

Peter helped me wrestle the large headsail (genoa) out of the boat.  I needed to inspect it as I was concerned it was damaged last year.  We put it in a dock cart and wheeled it up by the condominium at the head of our pier.  There is a large open space in front of empty storefronts we could use to lay the sail out.  Fortunately, the building keeps the area in shade all morning, so it is a very comfortable place to work.

We unfolded it in sections and inspected the stitching and materials.  Most of the stitching was fine, but the foot (bottom) and the leech (back or aft side) had damage along the edges.  I marked the damaged areas with painter's tape and we rolled it back up.  I'll have to think about my repair options.  There isn't a sailmaker here in Mazatlan to do a proper repair.  There are folks who do upholster work and also work on boat canvas who could do the sewing, I'm just not sure they can do it in my timeframe.  I have repair materials and tools on board, so will probably give it a go myself.

Sail damage

Later in the afternoon I picked up some engine oil and antifreeze to have on board in case it is needed.  I also picked up the new bilge pump.




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