One of the projects that I've been working on this winter has been the replacement of old running rigging and the update/upgrade of the associated deck hardware. This first photo shows the deck organizer with a couple of old lines left on for the winter. It is a 4 sheave organizer, which is fine unless you want to keep both reef lines in it and have two halyards, the pole lift, and the spinnaker tack line come through it.
In this photo you see the coachtop at the cockpit just aft of the above photo. You'll notice a distinct lack of clutching (and the old Easylock Midi that is there is at the end of its lifespan). Without a clutch on the jib halyard at left, it was impossible to secure it without leaving it on the winch. That tied up that winch permanently which meant that you couldn't use the other spare halyard rigged on this side of the boat. Also no clutching for the pole lift or any additional lines other than the two reef lines (one of which is coming through the Easylock. This set-up provided basic functionality (one headsail, reefs if needed) and worked fine for that. The issue was if you wanted to do anything more than basic.
I searched for the original equipment Lewmar deck organizers to do the stack I had planned, but they no longer make them and I was unable to locate any at this time (they are 2" sheaves with 2.25" center to centers, if you have any you'd like to part with, please let me know!). Without the Lewmars available, I found that Schaefer had the size and spacing I needed for now. I put lines that don't get much use or load through the upper level (second reef, spin tack, etc...).
Then in the cockpit, I put in 3 new Spinlock rope clutches. The first one I added was an XCS (XTS would have worked fine, too) for the jib halyard and spinnaker/spare halyard- both lines replaced with 3/8ths Samson XLS-Extra. I replaced the Easylock double with 2 Spinlock XAS doubles to house the pole lift, spin tack, and both reef lines. I also replaced the main halyard and the traveler control lines during this process. I think all of this will make spinnaker work, double headsails, wing on wing, and reefing easier and safer. I'll let you know after we start using it more what changes, if any, I would have made.
We just couldn't resist the weather this weekend and took Sequoia out for her first voyage of the season. It felt really good after going through all the maintenance and upgrade stuff this winter to have it all do what was intended- GO SAILING! It was puffy (lots of gusts and shifts, some over 20 kts), so we just stuck the main up and still cruised around at 5.5 knots through the water. It just felt wonderful to be out on her again. Left is a wind observation chart from Sailflow, who has some great stuff if you haven't used it! Planning another cruise for Saturday--- We're racing on Sundays right now (on other boats), so Sequoia just sits quietly and watches.
One of the projects that I've been working on this winter has been the replacement of old running rigging and the update/upgrade of the associated deck hardware. This first photo shows the deck organizer with a couple of old lines left on for the winter. It is a 4 sheave organizer, which is fine unless you want to keep both reef lines in it and have two halyards, the pole lift, and the spinnaker tack line come through it.
In this photo you see the coachtop at the cockpit just aft of the above photo. You'll notice a distinct lack of clutching (and the old Easylock Midi that is there is at the end of its lifespan). Without a clutch on the jib halyard at left, it was impossible to secure it without leaving it on the winch. That tied up that winch permanently which meant that you couldn't use the other spare halyard rigged on this side of the boat. Also no clutching for the pole lift or any additional lines other than the two reef lines (one of which is coming through the Easylock. This set-up provided basic functionality (one headsail, reefs if needed) and worked fine for that. The issue was if you wanted to do anything more than basic.
I searched for the original equipment Lewmar deck organizers to do the stack I had planned, but they no longer make them and I was unable to locate any at this time (they are 2" sheaves with 2.25" center to centers, if you have any you'd like to part with, please let me know!). Without the Lewmars available, I found that Schaefer had the size and spacing I needed for now. I put lines that don't get much use or load through the upper level (second reef, spin tack, etc...).
Then in the cockpit, I put in 3 new Spinlock rope clutches. The first one I added was an XCS (XTS would have worked fine, too) for the jib halyard and spinnaker/spare halyard- both lines replaced with 3/8ths Samson XLS-Extra. I replaced the Easylock double with 2 Spinlock XAS doubles to house the pole lift, spin tack, and both reef lines. I also replaced the main halyard and the traveler control lines during this process. I think all of this will make spinnaker work, double headsails, wing on wing, and reefing easier and safer. I'll let you know after we start using it more what changes, if any, I would have made.
