Hi Spirit - great to hear from you and very reassuring that Fierys younger sister is living the dream in blue waters.
I spent the day today on the
mast, mainly hetwashing it and meeting potential riggers. Considering I have owned FC for two weeks, it is satisfying how quickly she is coming back to life. I only have weekends as I
work a very demanding job and FC is 2 hours drive away before I even start.
The
mast was unstepped this week so it lay there on trestles next to FC. without the mast OMG the
radio aeriel on the stern is huge - I am not sure if I need a 20ft high
antenna on the back!
Lasts weeks
work left the
interior completely stripped and the outside perfectly clean. After 7 years of sitting in the yard FC came up sparkling - although the
paint needs touching up in places and she will benefit from a complete
paint job and new copper coat.
The hurry is to get the
rigging sorted while the mast is down because in 4 weeks the yard will start to fill with
boats and the crane will not be able to put the mast back until April. So I am getting riggers to look over the mast and make their recommendations - however the 57' Proctor looks straight and almost like new, amazing considering what she has been through. Jet
washing cleaned up the mast till it really did look new. We worked out the rigging at the top of the mast quickly and calculated the new
halyard lengths. The issues are the ProFurl was stuck in place, but it is gradually loosening up with playing with it so I think it is going to be OK. The vertical
steel rigging diamond wires and all thats in-between the three spreaders looks OK to me, but I am being recommended to replace it all the same - thats expensive and seems unnecessary and i can't decide.
I have been very excited about hearing from Merfyn Owen yesterday and can't wait for the call on wednesday - I wonder how interested he will be in his child prodigy?! whether he cares or not, whether he considered her a success or just an early attempt before he got it right. I will tell him about Spirit anyhow well she is doing.
The hulls are now completely empty and everything is in the container I knocked up last week - it was the only solution to the problem I could think of. It worked out well and is big enough for all the sails and bits and pieces. I keep finding out what various bits are for and which ropes and blocks fit where, and so far nothing is missing except the main sail and baton system. I received two
batteries today, I have not invested in Lion yet, but it is the intention once things are underway. First I am going to connect the batteries and test all existing
wiring next week. Then we shall see what is required to replace. The windex, direction and
VHF antenna on top of the mast are all broken but they will be easy to replace and I will have it done by next week. The pictures speak for themselves, particularly the difference before and after jet washing! and the pictures of the mast show what I am up against in trying to figure everything out.
Met John today who owns a 35 ft shuttle worth and is quite a few years ahead of me in terms of trimaran
ownership. It was really good to meet another tri owner because there are so many things I need a second opinion about - one of them is the
outboard and its mounting. In the pictures you will see the strange sink looking thing that is the outboard clamp attachment - bizarre. I have been trying to redesign a better solution, although I understand why it was designed that way - I still don't like it. So John suggested a transom mounted thing that fits at the very rear of the swim platform - I can lay with the height and hopefully get away with a short shaft outboard which can also be used on the
dinghy. I am not keen on engines on sailing boats although they are necessity when coming into a marina, but the rest of the time there is no excuse to use them IMHO. I really want all those things like fusions,
solar panels, sink, LCD
screen, nag gadgets etc, but I realise the basic boat is what matters for now, so I will wait until I know Fiery Cross and have had time to build a mental picture of how best to use the space, which was described in an interview with Merfyn Owen as a space for a Hamster on a Diet (and thats nothing like me btw).
I would be very interested to know if other similar trio's use their outriggers as water
tanks? and if so are they sectioned into separate compartments? and if so how are they connected? are they connected internally through the beams? for some reason my outriggers have four water compartments each and they are isolated with only 4 sealed caps on each outrigger. How I am going to clean these out is a big question, there is no bad smell and they are dry, but I don't fancy truing to drink water out of them. FC is also missing her tiller extension which for me is a necessity as I am an F18 Nacra sailer and wouldn't be without one. So I am going to have to get one or make one. I have seen extending telescopic carbon poles for
fishing or for mic booms - has any one any ideas about what to do about a practical tiller extension that can be used on the beams or on the net? here is the link to my
photo bucket, it is three weekends all in one bucket, but it speaks for itself. Next step is to start a FaceBook page for FieryCross.
AAAAAAFIERYCROSS Slideshow by sjjborg | Photobucket
they are not in order - just the last three weekends - 5 days work in all.
The sail quote came in and we are choosing a
Fabric called DP Flex Ultra ,
this Laminate is
Dyneema based with a light taffeta both sides , this produces the performance for Racing and the durability for Cruising , the
fabric is also UV and anti Mildew Coated - the verdict is still out but this is the favourite option so far.
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