We’ll sleep soundly now
We’ll sleep soundly now, or at least we will, once our new anchor and rode arrive and are installed. This morning we ordered a Rocna 15 kg. anchor, 100 feet of 5’16” chain and 200 feet of 5/8″ line. Non-boat people don’t even want to guess what this stuff costs! Crazy!
We also went into West Marine this afternoon to buy a couple of stainless steel washers. That planned 0.25 cent purchase turned into… more. 🙁 One bad thing about having a nice looking boat is that if you have one crappy looking thing on it it looks out of place. So it was with our barbecue. Even our boat’s previous owner David suggested that it be upgraded. Conveniently West Marine had the barbecue we wanted on sale. Let’s see how it cooks our steaks this weekend!
When we first arrived at our marina the owner, Hub, gave our boat’s rigging a quick check over. On a sailboat you have two types of rigging: standing and running. Running rigging is all of the lines (ropes) which control the sails. Standing rigging is that which holds the mast erect, etc. I consider them both important but the latter seems super important! On his little check up he commented that he felt the shrouds (cables holding the mast up) were too loose and he told me to “read the boat’s manual.” That comment (about the rigging being too loose, not reading) has been bugging me ever since. So today, at lunch time, our friend Paul and I tightened up the shrouds. It wasn’t very scientific. We just rotated the turnbuckles a bit until they felt “better.” Let’s hope feeling better actually is better!
We have also been talking about sending Rebecca aloft to check out the rigging at the top of the mast. Why Rebecca? Two reasons… she is lighter than I am, and she is braver than I am, at least when it comes to heights. One goes aloft typically by being hoisted up in a Bosun’s Chair, attached to a halyard connected to a winch. We have been discussing using some rock climbing gear that I have as backup to this method. Don’t worry Mom and Dad… we’ll probably look for a little bit of advice before we have her suspended 50 feet in the air!