Ups and downs

The weather has been awful of late. But it didn't take much, just one good day without rain or wind. So when that one day came, I quickly mustered up a strong hand of a good friend and up I went!

It was the first time I actually did work up at the top of the mast. Since I got over my fear of heights, I can't say it bothers me much these days. So once the hard work was done - winching me up - it was a very concentrated hour of careful fixing to replace the wind rotavecta, resolder the connections, and change the mast top light wiring. I changed to LED lights and ran a new cable through the mast as the old one had become inflexible and corroded.

To change the wiring, I had devised to sew the old one to the new end finish with some insulation tape. And to my surprise, this worked a treat! The most difficult was connecting the leads to the lamp housing, as I had a hard time getting high enough above the mast head to see what I was doing. I still feel my thighs 3 days later from pressing my muscles to stabilize against the mast and stays.

Once that was done, it was down again. I must admit that even though it is a balancing act, being up there is quite the experience. After thanking Jorn for his much valued assistance, I finished the wiring with the connector and then took out all the halyards and other lines. I hope I haven't forgotten to do anything up there, because it'll be spring before they go in again, freshly washed!

Next item on my planning is getting quotes for the sails. It'll be the first serious investment in a long series.