View From the Mast Top
This week was the most expensive week of our lives! Ouch. Okay, perhaps the day when we purchased a house or one of our boats was really the most expensive week of our lives. But, we don’t have jobs anymore and when money goes out, it doesn’t come in (this is really quite scary now that I think about it). We really put a serious dent in the cruising kitty. Why? One word: Rigging.
The rigging on Cream Puff is 15 years old. This is equivalent to 85+ in rigging life. As rigs go, Cream Puff’s was a senior member of an old age home. It is the original Amel factory rigging installed in 2000. We figured it was just fine for coastal cruising or futzing about Tampa Bay. But, we plan to go further than this. Horizontal masts on a sail-boat are the makings of a very bad day. If we want to keep both the masts vertical during our upcoming travels, it is time to replace the rig.
Everything on a boat disintegrates. Everything! Either the sun or the salt-water will be the demise. As boat owners, we make a futile attempt to delay the inevitable. The turnbuckles and rig fittings will rot. To make matters worse, they rot from the inside out. Most often in a failed fitting, previous visual inspections yielded no warning of failure. Once a fitting is visibly damaged, there is a serious danger lurking. Why not make the rig out of long lasting stainless steel you ask? It is stainless steel. In fact, it is a very high grade of stainless steel and bronze alloy (thus adding to the cost). Nothing lasts out on the ocean, except Styrofoam cups and flip-flops. Hmm. Perhaps this could be a new idea to bring money into the sailing kitty, Styrofoam rigging? Or, perhaps a boat made out of the same material used to make flip-flops with Styrofoam sails?
Cindy noted this pile cost the same as a small car
Cindy said, this is like re-roofing a house. It needs to be done. We hate to pay for it. It keeps us safe. And, it is better to do it now rather than worry about our mast crashing down every time we are caught in a storm. I’m so glad she sees it this way rather than; the same amount of money could have whisked us off to a Ritz Carlton or Four Seasons in tropical paradise for a few weeks. We could be poolside sipping piña coladas being waited on hand and foot by the pretty people. I mean, what gal would want rigging instead of a dream vacation. Boy oh boy, did I get lucky when I met her!
Going up!
Aloft on the Mizzen Mast
Oooooh. Shiny New Turnbuckles
PS. The mayonnaise experiment continues to go well.
