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.

Down below - and even further down.

The first few items have been crossed off the list. The ceiling was off once again to install the coachroof winch. Also, a new light spot has been added over the new sink I installed last year. The old light fixture is still there but it no longer contains a bulb as it's in a bad location and is never used owing to this.

Next item was the diesel tank. It got ruptured when we filled it last spring, so will get repaired by the original builder. They assured me heat welding PE is possible after being used, so we got lucky there. It also provides the opportunity to clean it out as I may have had a slight bacteria infestation two years ago.

While the tank is out, I've refitted the shore power installation. The wires run underneath the floorboards and with the tank out, getting at them is easy. The short in the circuitry is now gone and the wires neatly suspended from beams etc. Also, all the junction boxes have been made water tight - they were not.

I spent a dreadful two hours repairing the Henderson pump next to the loo. I'll not go into it too much. Suffice it to say I'll not be planning on doing that anytime soon. And I'll always stress proper usage of the toilet with any crew.

Next up is the mast top: weather permitting, I'll get up there and replace the wind instrument rotavecta as well as the wiring for the navigation lights. I should have done the wiring when the mast was down 4 years ago. One never anticipates enough the things that will break down. The wiring has been faulty for over a year, so it's about time I did something about it. I am also replacing the masthead anchor light with an LED to reduce consumption while at anchor.