Friday, 19April2013: Anacortes to Skyline

Weather:  Sunny and cool.  Winds:  SE 5-10.  Seas:  <1ft.

April weather slowed the bottom job, but Strider was finally released!  While in the yard, the lower end of the centerboard was sanded narrower and the centerboard now fully retracts.  In the past, it would retract leaving about 6in below the hull.  More than once, we had retracted it too far and it stuck.  Sometimes it was colorful removing the salon table (20 screws) to force the centerboard down.  No more!

Amongst the tasks accomplished during the layup was correcting after finding the reef lines were not routed properly inside the mast - this was after I had pulled the 1st reef line out accidentally.  Whilst trying to re-rig it, the line entered the mast via a block in vicinity of the boom, but then where?  Straight to the deck did not appear correct as the line rubbed the mast fitting.  There is a stainless steel plate riveted to the front side of the mast, directly forward of the entry block.  Could there be another set of blocks here?  Sure enough!  I monkeyed around with various techniques to thread the line through the forward block and did...but something did not feel right.  After screwing around some more, I finally drilled out the rivets and pulled the block set out.  I had accomplished the first reef threading, but through the starboard block and not the port block as it should have been.  Starboard belonged to the second reef line, but no line!  It entered the mast and went straight to the deck, bypassing the forward block and chaffing in too many places.  I rerouted both lines, lubed the blocks and re-riveted the forward block using aluminum rivets vice the original stainless.  There appeared to be galvanic corrosion between the mast and the original rivets so I used aluminum rivets figuring it was easier to replace aluminum rivets corroded by the stainless block plate than a mast corroded by stainless rivets.

Results?  Reefing had never been easy, too much binding/effort.  Now?  None!  Very easy to reef!

Motored out of the Anacortes Marina, encountering a couple kayakers, a couple harbor seals resting on the breakwater and a powerboat coming up our stern.  Once out in Fidalgo Bay, raised main and genoa and had a nice sail out of the bay into Guemas Channel and a port beam reach.  Wind died around Washington Park and we motored home.

Nice day on the water with Kelly!