The Goose Comes Home and a Jib Comes Down

It only took a year but the Goose is finally home! Yes the famous "eXpedition" eDition by the indomitable Andy Lin is now safe and secure in my yard. I'll let the pictures tell the story of the move.

Sitting forlornly on her trailer.

Throwing some Titebond at a corner

All hooked up and ready for a move

Safe at home

Some work was done on the Blue Flower as well. I've encountered a few problems with lowering her jib during rising winds. The obvious answer was a downhaul. So after a quick trip to Ace work began in earnest, the Typesetter working and me photographing. First up was adding a nylock to the jib block. (There is probably a better name for this particular block but I'll simply put up a picture.)

Flattering picture of the Typesetter digging under the foredeck

Lending a hand. Literally

With the block in place we set up the downhaul. Seems there were a few other bits on the boat at one time as there are three distinct holes in the bowsprit. We added a block, ran the line through the hanks and a downhaul was had. Here are some pictures.

Always excited to get a new line on the boat

Through the block and aft. A great setup!

The second issue we tackled was the consistent issue with the triple block set up on the mainsheet. I've never been happy with the slow response and the amount of drag in the set up. Maybe with her original 80sqft of polytarp but now it's overkill and more so dangerous. I'm unable to get the boom far enough with sheet to control her safely and the slow response can be killer in high wind. My last  few forays in wind I've attached the mainsheet directly to the boom and held it in hand for better feel and control. After a bit of discussion it was decided a traveler rig was the best set up. We could have opted for a fancy double block but a single ring was used instead. The swivel block from the old set up was attached to the boom after a bit of eyebolt wrestling by the human vice and the new set up shows marked improvement while on the hard. We hope to do water testing soon!

Notice too that pictures have returned to the blog! My camera has already survived one capsising and is still going strong. Look for more pictures and adventures soon!