Hefty projecting this week

[Amgine]

Lowered the mast, removed standing rigging and brought to rigger. Removed halyards, topping lift. Spent part of today building eye-splices in stay-set-x; it's actually not as bad as the double braid! Okay, they're not as neat as paying someone else to do them, but... I need to replace the spinaker and topping lift blocks, and remove-clean-oil-reinstall the halyard sheaves. Tested the mast light wiring, which seems to be fine, and found the short was at the deck fitting. Haven't figured out how to test the antenna wiring.

Installed plumbing for electric bilge pump, replacing the lower hose I drilled through. Wired part of the electric bilge pump - the auto part - but need a waterproof 3-butt joint before I can also have manual. It took me three tries to figure out the bilge rocker switch is wired backward - the power supply is common, and the ground is managed by the switch.

Spent time removing hardware from the boom, and reinstalling with tef-gel. Added fairleads and cheek block for reef #3, and will do the other side for reef #2 tomorrow. whipped the ends for 2 reef lines, one to go. I need to pick up a couple of aluminum cleats and this job should be done, but I'm going to clean and lube the gooseneck fitting too.

Started moving the fuel lines for the heater stove, as part of the mast wiring issue. When I installed the stove I ran the fuel lines behind the port settee, but didn't want to put holes in the bulkhead to run the lines through. Well, the settee back would not close over the hoses, so I just left it as is until this spring when I hoped to have time to fix it. Now I have to fix it in order to get better access to the port wiring channel so I can fish a new conductor through to the deck fitting so I can fix the mast wiring mess. Besides, soon on the task list is rebedding the port stanchions... But decided to go home tonight so I could shower off all the fibreglass particles from drilling a hole through the bulkhead for the fuel line.

Contacted welders about repairing the bow pulpit (ripped the navigation light plate off, snapping the weld), so I have to remove the bow pulpit and bring it in. Since the mast is laying across it at the moment, this project is on hold.

Managed to drop the retaining/tightening nut/bar for the magma grill overboard when removing it from the pushpit prior to lowering the mast. Anyone know where I can find just this one thing? really felt like a fool for that one.

And all day today there was a lovely breeze on the Indian Arm and in Deep Cove, teasing me now that my mast is down. Maybe I'll take the dinghy sailing tomorrow if I have a break and there's any wind.

[CapnK]

I need to get *you* to work on my boat for about 3 weeks - the she'd be ready to go! ;D

[Amgine]

Heh. Then I run into snags like today, and don't get much done at all.

I spent 4 hours today trying to fish a wire behind the fibreglass liner. And, after cutting two more holes in the liner (one of which I have no idea how I'm going to cover it up...) I did finally succeed in getting a new wire run to and through the deck to eventually be the new mast lights conductor. Talk about a pain the posterior!

Then I had to run around town looking for a water proof 3-butt connector for the silly bilge pump. I don't know why I was so fixated on finding this piece of electrician arcana, but it seemed like the best solution to the problem. Well, after another 4 hours of time wasting (via the 49cc scooter, so it *felt* like even more hours), I gave up and purchased some solder and liquid electrical tape, and tomorrow I'll see if I can make a bilge-proof connection to be able to have it work either on manual or auto modes.

So, an entire day spent and not a single job actually completed. Oh, and my call to the rigger's office to get the job cost estimate was frustrated: they'd promised an estimate today, after having my rig for 4 days, but it turns out they all left this morning to go to a race in Victoria. And won't be home until Monday soonest. And my boat is supposed to be off the docks a week from Sunday. Do I trust these racers to get my rig put together, mast raised, and rig tuned by next Friday if they're not getting back until Monday? I guess I don't really have a choice anymore - because I trusted them to do what they said they would, no one else would have time to put it together.

I'll be naming names once I have the estimate from them. I'm pissed as... well, very angry at the moment, and we'll leave it at that.

[Amgine]

Okay, ProTech Yacht Services, Ltd., of North Vancouver helped me get the rigging done on time. The mast is vertical!

I was extremely angry when I didn't get the estimate as promised on Friday - 4 days after they'd gotten my rigging. They didn't give me a written estimate at all, but after badgering them on the phone on Monday they came up with $1350 voice quote, approximately, depending on what other costs there were at the boat. Their estimate was 170% of the other bid I'd received, $800, from the shop that couldn't make the unexpected time crunch. Of course, by Monday I was over a barrel with exactly 7 days to get the boat re-rigged and the mast back up, and clearly would have no opportunity to bring the rig to another shop.

That said, the crew finished the rigging on Wednesday and even brought it out to the boat, but were missing pins. Thursday morning bright and early they were at the boat, but since I wasn't quite done with my parts of the job we didn't get the mast up until nearly noon. Hefting the mast up had some miscommunication - they didn't rig the shrouds (after lowers and cap shrouds) before the hoist, so we ended up with two people holding a swaying mast while the third moved from side to side threading the swaged pins into the turnbuckle bodies. And clearly I need to work on my technique, build a correct crutch to hold the mast up once pinned, and rig an arm from the mast to the stem so I can use mechanical purchase to sway it up without so much physical struggle.

After shaking hands all around they headed out, and I did a quick crude dockside tensioning. I noticed at least the stbd after lower swage is bananaed (how is that spelt, anyway?) I know that 5/32" swages are hard to get perfect, but that's part of why I don't like swaged ends. I really appreciate the physical efforts the crew gave - couldn't have asked for more! - but when it comes to standing rigging I will not be using this vendor again. I'll report what the actual bill comes to tomorrow.

Looks like I'm going to begin replacing this new standing rigging with mechanicals as soon as my budget starts to recover...

[Frank]

"the stbd after lower swage is bananaed (how is that spelt, anyway?)"..................
Banana'd ?   ;D :o ;)

[AdriftAtSea]

When replacing standing rigging, I've been recommending that the new rigging be done with a swaged upper fitting and a mechanical lower fitting.  This seems to be a good compromise between cost and reliability.  The upper swaged fitting doesn't have the exposure to salt water or the concerns of water running down into it that a lower swaged fitting would.

I have been recommending Hayn Hi-Mod mechanical fittings, since they're currently about half the price of Norseman or StaLock, and IMHO a better fitting overall.

[Amgine]

Yah, the swage at the top and the mechanical at the bottom makes some sense. I'm thinking about re-rigging one piece at a time, but I suspect ordering one wire at a time with a swage at one end from Rigging Only would end up killing me with shipping costs.

Well, I'll move that to the back burner for now: I have a mast and it's vertical again. As of Sunday I'm going to be marina-less, but the planned shakedown cruise departure isn't until the latter half of July and of course I have a million things I want to get accomplished between now and then.

Today is payday, and in-between boat shopping I have to do banking/bill paying errands. But once that's done I have only one priority: sort the cabin well enough to move back aboard on Saturday so as to get under way early on Sunday.

[Amgine]

Final tally on the standing rigging job from the vendor: $2101. Got smacked with $480 for the two crew members (rigger and apprentice) for 3 hours, plus a couple of over-quote costs (couldn't possibly have been the crew dropping a turnbuckle and pins in the water.) Ah well, the mast is up. Untested as yet, despite a fine sunny day today, but up.

Didn't get a darn thing accomplished other than paying bills, actually. Tomorrow I sincerely do have to be productive, or I'll be sleeping on various semi-finished/unstowed projects.

[matt195583]

I see in this post you mentioned "rigging only" I have been looking around on the net for stsnding rigging for my next potential boat and it would appear i can get all the standing rigging off rigging only for about $750. The best i can find in australia is about $1500 . Mind you both quotes are to suply rigging to measurements i suply.

How many people here have used rigging only ?

How would you rate their service and workmanship?

[AdriftAtSea]

Riggingonly.com is excellent... they're my local rigging loft and very well regarded throughout the US. 

[matt195583]

thanks adrift