Job completion and Vacation

Job Completion and Vacation

The weeks prior to the start of our vacation have been quite hectic. The job list we had

Replace anchor chain (G70 anchor chain is what we bought)
New anchor (Rocna 25 kg)
Replace the running rigging
Replace the radar
Install new plotter
Rewiring inside the distribution panel
Buy new dingy
Buy new outboard motor for dingy (none available due to covid)
Make new sun cover/bimini for the cockpit

consumed almost all of or free time. But I am glad to say that we got almost all of it done. As with all boat jobs there were a few minor problems.

Rocna anchor: In order to upgrade to the 25kg, the bow roller needed to be extended by about 21cm. This is due to the length of the shank and the length of the swivel that I order. I was able to get the measurements correct since Rocna had a template that I could cut out and put on a piece of cardboard. This allowed me to get the measurements I needed. I had Yacht Care order the stainless steel that I needed to extend the bow roller and they cut them accordingly. Things were going smoothly until it was time to see if the swivel would fit in the opening were the chain exits the boat. As with all boat projects, it is not really a boat project until something goes wrong. I was so worried about getting the distance and position of the bow roller, that I had completely overlooked the fact that the swivel would need to fit through the opening where the chain leaves the boat. There is a 53mm opening and the swivel that I bought, thinking Bigger is Better, was 71mm wide. So that threw a monkey wrench into the works. After a quick internet search, I was able to find a somewhat strong enough shackle that would fit through the opening. I did more research on the swivel and found that the smaller version S1, which stated it was 55mm at the widest point. I thought that I would need to grind down 1.5-2mm on each side and the swivel should fit. But to my surprise, it fit through the bow opening. No need to grind :)

Running Rigging: Running rigging is all the lines (AKA ropes) that help with sailing. The lines that we had came with the boat and now were 10 years old. Not knowing how used they were, I felt better that we replaced them with new lines. This was a pretty easy process. Where I could, I sewed the new lines to the old ones and simply pulled on the old lines until the new lines were in place. On the others lines, I attached some thin string, the type that is used to raise and lower blinds, to the ends of the old lines. Pulled out the old lines and then attached the new lines to the mousing line and pulled everything back into place. This went very well until our last line. It was windy and we did not keep enough tension on the mousing line and it came of the sheaves at the top of the mast. In order to fix it, I had to go up the mast, (the mast is 15m/50 feet high)