-
Hoisting the sails and first sailing
While working with the cockpit we also decided it was time for hoisting the sails for the first time. First one was the furling head sail. We hoisted the furling head sail a calm evening. We noticed that the sail was to short, so we needed a extensing on the halyard. The following day we decided to hoist the main sail and try sailing our boat for the first time. We sailed around in central Stockholm for a while. It was Petras first sail ever and Thomas first sail in a couple of years. The wind wasn’t very strong which was perfect for our first sail. Our sailboat isn’t exactly…
-
The mast stepping
The time had finally come to do the mast stepping! 🙂 If you want to read more about our rig, see our blog posts about the rig HERE. Before starting the mast stepping we had to do some final preparations before getting started. We had to mount the windex, change to LED-bulbs in the lanterns, mount the new electrical horn we bought and do a final check of the masts to make sure everything looked good. When we felt satisfied with the masts it was time for the mast stepping. We had some friends with us to help during the process, since we never done this before and since we…
You May Also Like
DIY autopilot for sailboat – Part one
-
Rope overhaul and cleaning halyards
We got a bunch of different kind of ropes for the rig when we bought the boat, but most of them ha been laying outside on the mast for several years and needed an overhaul and to be cleaned. We went over the halyards in search for weaknesses in the ropes and wires. Then we started cleaning the halyards. Some of the halyards are made entirely of rope and those we cleaned in a washing machine, just a normal 40 degree wash (celsius) with less centrifugation than an ordinary washing program. We added vinegar essence as fabric softener, which makes the fabric soft, without wearing them out to much. Unfortunately…
You May Also Like
DIY autopilot for sailboat – Part one
-
Rig for ketch rigged sailboat
It was time for us to start an overhaul on the rig for our ketch rigged sailboat. As it is ketch-rigged we have two masts; one bigger main mast and a smaller one, called a mizzen mast. The mizzen mast is positioned in the cockpit and is much smaller than the main mast. The main mast is keel-stepped, which it means it goes through the deck. Main Mast We started with the main mast, which is made out of aluminum and has one pair of spreaders. First up was to loosen all straps that held the stays and shrouds together. We went over the shrouds and stays, took a close…
You May Also Like
DIY autopilot for sailboat – Part one
-
Mast butt renovation
The weather is not on our side this spring, it way to cold an rainy for us to work with plastic repairs right now, so in the meantime we started prepare for rigging the masts. We have a keel-stepped main mast. As we understand it, it is very hard to get rid of all leakages in a keel-stepped mast but we will do everything we can to prevent leakages. A sign of old leakages is our rusty mast butt. We will get rid of the rust and paint it so that it can withstand potential future leakages better. Now the mast butt is ready to have the mast connected, which…
You May Also Like
DIY autopilot for sailboat – Part one
