Going aloft

With my friend Viktar helping, I have a second pair of hands to help get up the mast and fix a few things: main sail track, foredeck light, and spreaders. I set up the harness not the main halyard and used spinnaker halyard for a bag of tools & parts and a bucket of soapy water with a sponge.

Task 1 was to just clean the underside of spreaders that have accumulated some green growth

Task 2 was to replace the bulb in the foredeck light. Unfortunately, the bulbs I had in my bag didn’t match the light. Same brand, same model but 10 years difference. Need to order another bulb and get up there again.

Task 3 was to get down the small piece of track at the top of the mast to secure it to the rest of the track. When my rigger installed it originally, he ordered it too short and then proceeded to add a small piece and push it all the way up the mast without connecting them. With full main up and some good wind, that small piece rides up exposing a gap and mainsail cars slip out. After every sail without a reef in, I have to remove and reinstall the mainsail into the track. Royal pain and bad vibes to the rigger.

After getting to the top, I pushed the small piece down and secured both sides with stainless straps. They don’t need to carry lots of load, just to not let that small piece ride back up. Will need to test this out on the next sail.