Well, it's time to begin the
overhaul of my
mast and
rigging. By
overhaul I mean take the rig down, strip off every bit of
gear on it, figure out what bits will be tossed, what new things will go back on, what holes need to be made, what ones need to be filled. Then there's the whole transition from external halyards to internals, adding "sky hooks" where there were none, installing roller furlers and their cousins, the
Code Zero, the new LED
lighting options, including High Intensity Discharge
Security lights, high output LED spreader lights, masthead tricolor, masthead
VHF antenna, masthead
instruments,
radar reflector, Strong Track
mainsail system, new
Harken winches, line locks, in-boom controls, and, of course, painting everything again after more years than I want to think of. Then there's the new
rigging wire, the insulated backstay for the Ham
radio, the new turnbuckles (that my rigger, Fritz Richardson, absolutely demands), the medley of new halyards and control lines, all of materials that didn't exist when I stepped the
mast in 1978.
So,now to the reason for my query to the CF denizens: can you post any pictures of your masthead trucks that may be of technical interest for assisting in design. Also, you might have some ideas that I hadn't considered. I have some needs that you probably haven't considered. For example, I hoist my
dinghy with its
outboard off my
deck with a
halyard. I'm including a special one (or two) just for this need. So, let's hear something!