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Initially and for years I thought the foot of the old
main sail was stretched when there was no room on Chip Ahoy's boom for
an outhaul. When I replaced it last spring with a new
Ullman Offshore main sail
there still was
no room for an outhaul. From inquiries to the
discussion group, I
discovered the boom that came with the boat was 4 inches too short -- it
should be 10 feet in length! Last
fall I found a replacement locally, with the plan to replace it for the upcoming
season. |
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I hung the two booms on the mast so I can remove the
hardware from the old boom (top) and replace it on the longer boom
(bottom). I'll run the lazy jacks and single-line reefing lines, setup
the boomkicker and boom vang, to insure a more perfect placement this
time. (Apr. 19, 2009) |
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That additional 4 inches ought to provide room for an
outhaul. The diameter of the two booms are of slightly different shape,
so I don't think simply replacing the end caps will work. I'll likely
need to drill and tap for the pigtail tang. |
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Unseasonably warm weather arrived today, hitting 85° at
4pm and breaking the record for this date by two degrees. Bob Donovan
and his crew who park their trucks and store their plows and equipment in our lot delivered a
surplus workbench (with an old vice attached) yesterday -- the perfect
setup for working on the booms! (Apr. 25, 2009) |
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I was out by late morning, moved the booms off Chip Ahoy
and got ready to begin swapping the hardware. The workbench makes this
project a whole lot easier -- and that vice sure is coming in handy. |
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Hallelujah, it feels like summer's arrived! In
celebration I even dug
out the shorts and boat sandals from winter storage. By late afternoon I had some of the hardware swapped, but it's
slow going. The old boom's hardware is coming off in pieces -- I'm either snapping
off screws due to
thread galling or drilling out rivets before I can replace the part with the
newer, better quality tackle from my old (short) boom. Tomorrow's
weather forecast is for more of the same, sunny and in the 80s until
late afternoon showers and possible thunderstorms roll through.
(Apr. 25, 2009) |
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I completed swapping out the booms hardware
late today. The
weather was again unseasonably warm, another record-breaker at 87° by 4pm and mostly sunny.
I love it! In the
next day or two I'll hang the 'new' boom and run the rigging, see how
everything fits and works. The weather forecast for the next few days looks great;
cooler, in the 70s tomorrow, then back into the high eighties on Tuesday. I
seem to be recovering from my spleenectomy nicely (the incision's scar
is visible in
the above photo) -- I was more aware of my skinned knuckles today than
the surgery! (Apr. 26,
2009) |
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The 'new' boom is ready to be hung. (Apr. 28, 2009) |
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Today was another temperature record-breaker for the
date, 92° at 2pm, about the time I finished hanging the boom and
getting it rigged. |
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Once the boom was attached to the
mast, I added the main sheet, lazy jacks, boom vang, and boomkicker. |
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Everything seems to be there and in the right
position. |
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I changed the direction of the lazy jacks line, turning
the cheek block around, so the line leads aft now where it'll be easier
to reach without going forward. The cheek block and line's cleat is on
the opposite side of the boom. |
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The new boomkicker adjustable boom track, recently
purchased from Catalina Direct, installed. [CLOSE
UP] =
[ANOTHER VIEW] |
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The boom seen from the starboard side. |
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The boom seen from the port side. (Note the
repositioned lazy jacks cheek block and new cleat for its line.) |
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Mission accomplished -- the boom has been successfully
replaced. All that remains is to hoist the main sail and rig the
outhaul, make sure the
reefing lines still work, and add the new cunningham. (Apr. 28,
2009)
Continued . . . |
NEXT |
Moving on
with Season 2009 improvements |
It's never-ending ... but Sailing Season '09 has arrived! |