Putting it all back together!

Back to Home ... s/v Stella Blue home ... New Rig Page ... Projects

Back to Home ... s/v Stella Blue home ... New Rig Page ... Projects

I'm having Glen Hansen put it all back together, because he knows a heck of a lot more than me!
I started out telling exactly how I wanted it done, but he had so many better ideas that
I finally decided to shut up and let him do his job.

We attached conduit inside the mast with rivets. One conduit goes up to the steaming light area, the other to the mast head. Glen left a messenger line there so I can add instruments to the mast head later if I marry rich.

Here's a look at my new masthead sheaves and other hardware, plus a couple of Spectra-cored halyards.

To the left is the new ForeSpar foredeck light and steaming light, plus a bracket so it doesn't get damaged by the headsail.

Here's the new Metz VHF Antenna, and the base for the Tricolor with Anchor light and Strobe. I decided to spring for the strobe after enough people told me that they wished they'd spent the extra bucks. Apparently it has value not just in an emergency, but also when trying to let a fishing trawler or some other boat know exactly where you are at night when you're on a collision course. Makes sense to me -- you can talk with them on the radio and tell them you're going to flash three times. It seems a lot easier than trying to shine a flashlight on your sails!

To the left you can see the new track for the mast mounted whisker pole. I keep saying whisker pole, as I'm not going to race this boat and will only have a cruising spinnaker aboard, not a full chute. I'm pretty sure Glen's rigging it so I can change my mind later...

I think my camera has a hard time focusing when the batteries are running low. Gee, after three years with this camera I'm finally figuring it out!

Glen machined new tie bars out of the stock to the left. This piece was left over from the lathe. He then drilled right down the center, and used big bolts to tie the tangs together. (Right)

Here's Glen making sure he has all the right parts.
It's really cold in his shop today.

Or maybe he's tallying up my bill! There's a lot I'd like to do (like a rigid Vang) but I'm really afraid. This project's been going on for three months and it's a big blank check just hanging out there. Glen's going to let me know how deep I'm in before I start in on my wish list.

12/13/2001 --
Glen bolted a little piece of track on the masthead so I'd have a clear view of the Windex. Nice, Light and Strong!

The gooseneck
looks nice!

Here's what the upper spreader tips look like.

I called ahead so somebody from the yard would come over and torque down the keel bolt. That's not a torque wrench...

The yard said they had a 3/4 inch drive wrench that would go to 350 foot pounds, but when push comes to shove...

It's too late to rent one now, so we're going to tighten this bolt down as tight as we can. The wrench has a pipe on the end and the arm is about 4 feet long.

The yard guy then got down and pushed on the wrench with both legs, bracing his back against a main salon cabinet. The bolt is pretty darn tight. The cabinet is smashed in.

I think I prefer the folks over at Svendsen's.

And here are the lowers, still under construction.
The C&C Landfall 38 has noncontiguous rod.
In other words, the lower shrouds are solid rod up to the lower spreaders, then are pinned and toggled to another piece of rod that goes up to the mast head.

New Forespar deck lights!

My halyards have three different shackles. The Main is pretty standard, the Jib has a good shackle that won't catch on anything and accidentally come open. The second Jib halyard has a standard shackle.

On a happier note -- here's Glen wrapping the uppers with Monel wire to guarantee that everything stays exactly where it belongs.

Heading over to drop the rig back in! Oh Happy Day!
This is the last time I'll have such a clear view forward, and that's just fine with me!

We put a couple of little notches in the bottom of the mast so water could drain out. Glen also put two drain holes in the mast step, so the water will flow out the back and down into the bilge.

Dropping that puppy back in!

Not a single scratch in the paint.

We had a lot of discussion to make sure it was stepped perfectly. It was difficult to tell, since the collar is new, the step is new. After about a half hour of tweaking it a half inch back, an eighth inch this way, Glen pronounced that it was lined up right.

Dave went up to tighten everything down. Right now, the rig is in column and ready to tune. We'll have to do the final tune, then sail it and tune again.

That's going to be a while, I have a few projects to do before we can sail this boat.

By the time we were done, it was dark. I'll add final pics to this page over the Christmas 2001 holidays.

Next Page -- Wiring

One thing that really impressed me
about Glen: He lined the mast up
in the partners perfectly.
For a couple of months I was wondering why it looked to be 1/2" off to port, and after measuring about 50 times I realized that the builders cut the hole in the deck nearly 1/2" off! Glen lined the mast up
on the centerline perfectly,
for the first time in the boat's life!
And he did it in about 10 minutes just walking around and looking at it.
Everybody told me he really knows what he's doing, and he certainly
proved it on my boat.