Spreading Her Wings

Adventure in a tarp.

 It was an eventful day for the captain and crew of the Lido #1280. As I have mentioned in a previous post getting new lines was at the top of the list and with those lines being delivered two days ago, today was the day to get the boat rigged. In addition to replacing the rope sections of the main and jib halyard and a new mainsheet, the downhaul and boom vang were installed.

Mast raised for the first time in 2014. The new halyards are still white.

  The first order of the day was to raise the mast. That done it was off to lunch. Raising a mast on a 14' dinghy is hungry work! Once back in The Typesetter's boat yard work began in earnest. Replacing the mainsheet was easy enough having purchased line specifically for that purpose. The main halyard was a different beast. On our last sail of 2013, an epic voyage from Big Arm to Dayton to photograph the end of a SFYC yacht race the wire crimp on the main halyard gave way. This necessitated a temporary fix that served well but with the danger of temporary fixes becoming permanent it was time to do it right. Or if not right better. All in all it was done fairly quickly. After the correct size crimp was purchased the rope section was attached, put in a hitch and whipped in place. Nothing fancy but a good solid job. The jib halyard was much easier as we did not have to replace the crimp.

Currently the vang is as it would have come from the factory in 1962. A multiple purchase set up may well be in the works. As is a rework of the downhaul system also currently factory.

  The downhaul was simplicity itself, using one of the old halyards and a bowline knot. That done it was time to see if we could rig the boat and get some trailer sailing done. After accidentally  backwinding the jib we got it all figured and the little boat seemed ready to go.

What I can only imagine is the order number for our sails. They are not in bad condition for being over fifty years old.

Sails set and drawing nicely in about 5kts of wind.

  There is always work to be done on a bout and ours is no exception. The tiller needs to be repaired and strengthened.I have chosen an appropriate name for the vessel and I will need new name decals to let the rest of the world know as well. Adding some non slip to a few spots may not be a bad idea either. But for all intents and purposes we have a boat for the upcoming season. I can't wait.