Broken Furler

Fridge and freezer groaning with more than a month’s food, we were ready to sail south when a loud bang on the jib furler made us rethink.  It was hard to determine the damage until Peter climbed the mast.  A section of the furler tubing had split, and it had to be right at the top; we may have inadvertently over-tightened the halyard.

Colin from Quadrant Marine and Greg Southern, rigger, were able to pull it all apart, add a new section and put it back together again.  It was a bit nerve-wracking when they loosened all the stays on the mast to release the jib halyard, but the mast stayed up.  At least we had a good berth for laying out the furler to work on it. 

Abell Point Marina were very understanding as we overstayed to get the job finished.  At last we are heading south and the jib furler works!  Despite the lack of forecasted northerly wind, we made Long Island before sunset.

loosening the main stays...

the broken furler section

making use of the long jetty