mast and rudder

I have checked, repaired or replaced some minor components of this 1983 boat. The mast is a bit battered but still very strong. I checked all the standing rigging on the mast: side, fore and jib stays and 4 trapeze wires and also the running rigs: the jib and main halyards and sheets. All the lines seem solid enough and have years of life left in them.

I decided to replace the two side stays and adjusters because on one of them the plastic cover was broken in many places, showing its age. I kept the good one as a spare for the fore stay which is used only during rig-up and rig-down. The actual working/running fore stay is sewn inside the leach of the jib sail. This wire plus two side stays support the mast when on the water. When hiking out on the trapeze, flying one hull, only two stays are loaded. When on the water, the side stay on the low side is always slack.

The trampoline gave way one day when I was standing up there raising the mast. I took off the trampoline and checked the yellow pages. It turned out to be a very cheap repair job using an upholstery maker's machine ($30) for adding a few rows of thread to it. For good measure, I also strengthened the opposite side (starboard) with a few rows of thread before they also fail in the future.

This trampoline has taken a lot of UV in 30 yrs. The NZ sun is extremely strong in summer, eating alway paint jobs on top of cars etc. Many Kiwis apply sun screen when they go to the beach, to avoid getting skin cancer in later years. I decided to protect my trampoline from the sun by covering the boat with a canvas tarpaulin when it is on my front lawn. It also provides some security for my new stainless steel fittings.

When I refitted the trampoline I also gave the frame a good water blasting and replaced all the lines which secures it to its frame. It looks clean and more presentable now. Even Nathan gave his approval after a 10 minutes thorough inspection!

Next job was checking the rudder cams and replacing the 4 teflon bearings. I found a shop in Frankton where they make all kinds of flange gaskets from large rubber sheets, including teflon! The cost was very reasonable @ $2 each for a bearing. I made some for the mast bearing for future use and for giving away to fellow Hobie sailors. I have met two so far at Ngaroto.

The cams are still ok on the rudder stock. They are keeping the rudder [up] when towing. The previous owner gave me some spare cams. I replaced these cams and kept the old ones as spares. Most of the consumables have now been serviced or replaced. By the time I am through with it, this catamaran will be as good as new!

I had the top pulley off the mast yesterday, to remove the red ribbon which disappeared inside the mast last week at Ngaroto; jamming up the halyard. At that moment, I could not lower the main and had to drop the mast (with the main attached) really quickly because of the fresh breeze. The main sail with the boom (and main sheet blocks) were flying freely and could have done some real damage to bystanders or cars.

I quickly lashed the main to the trampoline ropes, removed the boom and blocks from the sail and lowered the mast in seconds with no time available for rigging up the gin pole. I simply lowered the mast with the winch; the last few feet it dropped and hit the trampoline frame with a loud [thud]. Fortunately on closer inspection, no real damage was done this time! Although at 18 kg, this mast could have flatten some people or cars nearby! From now on, I will always use a gin pole for raising or lowering the mast slowly and safely using the winch and gin pole, allowing no more free fall accidents.

My experiments with the gin pole placements has been a very expensive exercise; consuming a few mast step-links @ $37.05 each. I need to avoid any side loading on this fragile linkage or find a heavy duty version from some where on line. The supplier in Auckland did not have one; for obvious reasons.

mast link failures