Sails and Windlass…and other news
Other news, first we have decided to stay in Virginia until after Carol gets her hip replaced. We were not going to get out before Christmas and we were able to get a January 12 surgery date. Hope to start traveling by mid-February. This takes the pressure of getting the boat ready.
New sails from Mack Sails are bent on and they look good. Can’t wait to give them a try. We have also installed new halyards, sheets, furling line, and reeling line. These are ropes for non-sailors. Pics are below. Remember there was no wind when we hoisted them at the dock as it gets bad quickly when a gust hits when you are tied up. Note, the blue sail cover is a special type that opens up and allows the sail to drop in this eliminating the need to fold the sale.
New dinghy outboard finally arrived. During the pandemic the demand for outboards far exceeded the supply. We were waiting 6 weeks and had to buy from a nice guy in Texas. It is a 15 hp, electric start Tohatsu. I am so done with 2 cycle engines and carbarators this is a 4 cycle fuel injected engine. The electric start will let both of us take it out. Tohatsu’s are built in Japan. Oddly all outboards under 25 hp sold in the states are built in the same Tohatsu factory (not counting very cheap Chinese made).
New windlass is installed. What a job, new 2/0 wire (think half inch diameter) was ran, spliced and wired into the windlass. We were able to finally find a wireless controller. This was the most difficult job yet on the boat. I just ran all 275’ of chain into the locker without issue. I am now ready to attach my new 55# Mantis anchor and give it a try. As you see in the pic below the anchor fits. It is tight but it fits. The swivel turns the anchor to the correct position.
During my downtime I completed the install of our new AIS transponder. AIS is a system (required on commercial boats) that broadcasts a boats position and speed. This lets these boats to be monitored and shown on a chart plotter. The time of closest point of approach is calculated so you can get a warning if a boat is going to get to close.
All the best to Carol. My friend from Missouri arrived today. He had his hip done in May and was up and walking in a day! Good to see all the progress.
Carol; I had my hip replacement in January this year. Now it is just about back to normal. I‘m very active and pain free. It’s a lot to go through but worth it! Good luck and work hard on your rehab exercises!
AIS sounds like a good safety thing to have. I will pray that Carol’s surgery goes well.