12-10-10 We're taking off...


We're leaving for Florida later this afternoon, just in time for the first heavy rains Honolulu has seen in a long while. The rigging project was completed yesterday, with new Schaefer double jaw headstay toggles for the forestay, backstay and staysail. Lefiel Mast supplied us with new tangs and bolts for the upper, intermediate and lower shrouds. New wire lengths were cut for the upper cap shrouds, intermediates and the lower portion of the backstay below the insulator, and the new Hayn turnbuckles were fitted; we then redid the Hayn Hi-Mod terminal ends. The great news was that the SS wire and terminal fittings looked like new, even though I installed them about 5 years ago (btw, I used 3M 5200 in the terminals). We still have just a bit of mast and spreader work to finish up, like remounting the radar reflector, spreader boots and shroud covers, then have to tune the rig. Last week the serviced injector pump and injectors were reinstalled, and the Perkins is running fine. I also found time to uninstall our Village Marine Little Wonder 150 watermaker, which is now available and for sale to a new owner and many more years of service. (The unit is listed on the SSCA and Westsail Owners Association Bulletin Boards in the Items for Sale section). We have about 20 packages waiting for us in Florida, not including our new Frigoboat unit that our friends have shipped to Honolulu already. So, our upcoming visit will be mostly to see our family and friends, with just a little work thrown in such as hunting down parts to bring back with us in Jan. We hope everyone has a healthy, happy and blessed Holiday season as well as awesome sailing, and we'll add more to this blog upon our return.