Wednesday 10 April 2019

Wednesday was all action on Equinox. First to arrive was Pepe, the guy who has made a cover for the boat. He also made us some cockpit cushions, but they were effectively both for the same side of the boat, rather than being mirror images of one another. We had contacted him and he had collected the erroneous cushion, and returned it today, duly corrected, just after we finished breakfast.

After this we had two teams of guys working, the electricians and the riggers. This was potentially going to be a problem as they both needed to spend a reasonable amount of time up the mast, and only one could be there at a time. Anyway, they all arrived promptly, and very quickly agreed a way of working that would allow them to alternate who was aloft and interspace it with other sea level tasks.

We had this view for most of the day

We were given the red carpet treatment

Something missing at the front

The riggers were the first to ascend. They had to replace a section of the Jib Luff Foil (this is a track that runs up the fore stay to hold the leading edge of the Jib), that they had seen to be damaged in the survey at the end of last season. The section to be replaced was the very top one. To do this they had to remove the entire forestay, and keep the mast securely in place by using some of the other lines that run to the top of the mast. They had said that this job was much easier when the boat was in the water, and having seen it done, I think I agree. They laid out a long strip of red carpet, then released the bottom end of the forestay, and then, with someone aloft, released the top and lowered the whole 25 metre length of rod and foil to the ground.

At this point they relinquished ownership of the top of the mast to the electricians. The poor electrician, who is rather less accustomed to being up in the sky, had to work up a mast that was held in place by temporary lines.  He had the job of fixing the new antenna (easy) and running the cable for it down the inside of the mast (difficult). They first pulled the existing antenna cable up the inside of the mast, with another line attached to it, then pulled the line back down the mast with the new cables attached. This did not prove easy in either direction, as there are clearly a whole load of other fittings on the inside of the mast, and there was a lot of Spanish “to me, to you” being shouted back and forth. Eventually they got one of the cables down, but not the 2 they needed, and then the riggers needed to be aloft again. The electricians retreated to their base for a while.

The riggers then had to reverse the process of removing the forestay. Fortunately, the mast is effectively a crane, and we have winches at the ready to lift the forestay back. The decision was to secure the bottom first this time, as this is achieved in a very tight space below the deck. The guy then went back up the mast, on one line and proceeded to switch lines between the things he was putting in place and himself, while still up the mast. Eventually after at least an hour up there, he secured the forestay back in place, and we able to release the tension on the other lines. It had been exactly the super calm weather that they had been needing for this task.  There was more for the riggers to do, but they said that they would return on Thursday to refit the sails and complete the outstanding work.

So at about 4:00, the electricians came back, and had another spell up the rather more secure mast, getting the second cable run through it. This proved as problematic as it had been before and the guy was delighted when he came down and this bit was finished.  However, he still had to get the cable from the base of the mast to the instrument panel, and a great deal of time was spent working out where the existing cable ran. We had most of the floor panels up, down and up again, before eventually understanding that the cable initially led off in the wrong direction but then doubled back on itself and followed a traceable route.  The new cable was threaded through the appropriate trunking, and led to its connection in the instrument panel.  A bit of testing and it was proven that both the VHF and the AIS work as they should.  We could see vessels 30 miles plus away and saw our own position being broadcast on the internet.  Some time after 9:00, the electricians left us and we produced a quick meal. 

It had been a long, but successful day.

Distance covered today	0	nautical miles
Trip distance covered	0	nautical miles
Distance covered 2019	0	nautical miles
Steve (and Tricia)