May 6-7, 2023 - Saturday/Sunday

Saturday morning I finished the last bit of teak oiling on deck.  It looks pretty good for now.  Certainly fast and easy to apply.

Next I installed my lazy jacks.  Lazy jacks consist of a network of light cord on either side of the mainsail.  Their purpose is to hold the mainsail on top of the boom when it is being lowered.  Without lazy jacks, the mainsail has a tendency to fall all over the deck, creating an unwieldy mess.  My lazy jacks are integrated with my sail cover into what is often called a "stack pack".  The stack pack is attached to the boom and is always ready to receive the mainsail when it is lowered.  No need to haul out a separate sail cover or stow it in some handy spot on deck.  Using this system, it is easy to lower the mainsail while keeping it under control, then cover it up with the sail cover.

Sketch of a lazy jack system (minus sail cover)

My bilge pump that has been giving me problems was my next task.  I thought I had ordered a new one from the Mexican Amazon site, but something went wrong with the order, so I am looking around locally to see what is available.  I have two electric bilge pumps.  One is the primary pump that keeps the bilge fairly dry.  The secondary pump is more for emergencies.  It is a higher volume pump.  When it activates, an alarm sounds and a red light goes on.  This is the one I am replacing.  I will check the local marine stores to see what is available.

Sunday I went up the mast (again) to do a rig inspection and to lubricate the sail tracks.  I will be putting the mainsail on Monday, so want everything ready.  When checking the rig, I look at all the wire rope that holds the mast up, checking for any signs of wear, corrosion or damage.  I check all the fasteners to see that they are in good shape and that they all have retaining pins or rings.  I lubricate the pulleys and check all the halyards.

Mast work finished, I took a break to cool off and relax.  Later in the day I went shopping to restock my kitchen.  The wind really kicked up Sunday afternoon.  Coming back from the store, sand and dust were blowing everywhere making it hard to see!  It finally died down after sunset.

It had been a fairly windy week.  The harbor has been closed for three days in a row.  They close the harbor when conditions at the entrance become hazardous.  It is a fairly narrow entrance with a sharp turn as you come in, then another sharp turn.  The channel is not too deep and there are rocks...  If there is much swell, boats sometimes bump off the bottom in the trough of the waves.  I try to go out in mid to high tide and keep a sharp eye on my position and the depth!


Marina Mazatlan






Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 13, 2023 at 9:38 PM

    Thanks for sharing your adventure, Brian. I enjoy your posts very much!

    ReplyDelete

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