Sat, 23 Feb 2002
We are back on the water! On Saturday we got Wings out of the slip and put up sails for the first time in close to a year. It felt great.
This has been a bit of a long haul for us, and the work isn't over yet, but now at least we are down to a normal list of boat projects, and we are sailing. Let me tell you about our sail on Sydney Harbor:
We worked in the morning doing a few last minute items, like putting sails aboard and rigging the boat. But as it got to be afternoon it started looking like we might not
make it out of the slip after all. We'd noticed water in the bilge and found it was leaking past the shaft seal. The packing was shot and I couldn't stop the leak by adjusting
it. We wondered if we'd have to arrange a panic haul out, normally you can't replace packing while the boat is in the water. But we gave that approach a try, with pumps
and rags handy, and even though it was a wet process, we were able to replace the packing and stop the leak. So, by 5:00pm we were finally ready to go.
Out of the slip, hoist the main and jib, and set sail under the Sydney Harbor bridge. A nice afternoon sail, 15-20 knots of wind, close hauled out of the inner harbor and we
were headed towards the ocean. The boat felt good. Oh, a lot of gear was sticky and tight, but we were working out the kinks. The best part is neither the boat or us forgot
how to sail. One of the funnier moments was when a pretty good puff hit and the tiller handle came right off in my hands. The boat gently rounded up while I ditched the
extension and grabbed for the tiller itself. Hum? I'll have to add that to the list. Hum? good thing it didn't happen in real close quarters.
Then as we lifted up the Western Channel towards Sydney Heads there was an ominous cracking sound coming from the deck somewhere...right under where I was sitting actually. Looked around. Nothing near me on the high side of the boat was loaded up but the runner. It looked fine. Then I noticed the main sheet turning block. Aha! There's the problem. The pad-eye backing plate was pulling through the deck.
OK, turn around, get the pressure off the sails, and head in. It was a good shakedown anyway. We sailed back through the city, took a few photos, and felt happy. We'll do it again next weekend, but first we have to fix a couple of minor items.
Sorry about the quality of the photo, I got carried away with the compression.
Fred & Judy