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Plans don’t turn out as they are supposed to. One finding of the rigging inspection was that the electrical wiring to the masthead light (used when motoring) was chafed through. I wanted to replace the wire and get the light to work again. Unfortunately, that wire was so corroded that it snapped and fell back into the mast.

From there, a new adventure in boat projects started. The wire was coming out of the mast through a hole used by the thick radar cable. I didn’t think another wire would go through so I decided to drill another hole. After that, it was a long uphill battle to try to get the wire through. After many attempts, I finally got a reeving line (Dyneema twine with a bit of weight) through.

Next, I wiggled a new electrical wire through and used the reeving line to get it to come down to the mast foot. I went up the mast countless times in this process but finally got to a good place, where we can now install a new line and power it up, which is a project for next weekend. Boat projects never stop to amaze me how they take unexpected turns. This all started with “Let’s just check the bulb”. The insides of the lamp were so corroded that the wires just came off with a gentle pull.

Don’t they ever turn out as we want them to? A lack of wind caused the cancellation of our weekend trip. Instead, we’re doing bits of work. Alex hoisted me up the mast again and I looked at the standing rigging and the mast. I took plenty of pictures here. I can’t say that it’s all perfect but aside from the upper headstay fitting, everything seems ok. I also took the opportunity to check under the bungee cords connecting the backstay to each other. And there too everything looked good.

Finally, last week we tried the B&G auto-pilot and for some reason it started steering the wrong way again, like it did then. So I swapped the wiring again, and that resolved it. I replaced the battery in the NKE crew remote and we’ll need to re-pair it to the boat.

And finally, I replaced the dog bone for the staysail. Speaking of which, we finally tried the staysail with the A2 up, and that was a lot of fun! See video in the gallery below: https://holmberg-dailey.smugmug.com/Bay-Sailing/CaB-2023/n-LCQmZs/i-qzzC7FJ.

We continue to proceed through the long list of small jobs. Last weekend I removed the primary clutch for the spinnaker, staysail, and mainsail halyard. I wanted to replace the red tongue (see picture) as it was broken on the mainsail, and malfunctioning on the spinnaker. I did fix the mainsail one but the spinnaker clutch is still not working as designed, which is a bit of a nuisance.

It took a while to remove it from the boat, disassemble it, clean it, and put it all back together. It was oddly satisfying though, except for the finding that the spinnaker halyard line is still not grabbing, and requires a push on the red tongue to grab.

I also replaced the starboard cam cleat for the spinnaker tweaker that wasn’t 100% springing back in the locked position, took it home, and rebuilt it using Harken’s kit.

On Memorial Day weekend, we have plans to go sailing offshore for a couple of nights, hopefully leaving Friday evening, and returning to the Bay on Sunday evening. The next Monday we plan to meet with another sailor to get some coaching and advice on our sail wardrobe.

And then Tuesday 9/5, I plan to bring the boat back to the boatyard to have the recent bottom paint job inspected. The diver noticed that the paint washed off in a few places, which was not expected!

On the Pacific Cup front, we have paid the remaining 2/3 of the entry fees. So that’s us getting locked in a little more.

On the list of important things to do, I am going to try to replace the boom end sheaves, which will require hammering out the sheave axle. I’m working on getting quotes for the sleeved Kevlar cables. Of course, we continue to explore sail purchases, in particular spinnakers. But even used, these don’t come cheap! It’s time to look into scheduling the engine maintenance too. There’s a strong need to go up the rig and inspect everything, maybe remove rust stains. The list is long as you would know …

Oh, and I completed the online training part of the offshore safety at sea training required by the PacCup!

Last Saturday I took Changabang for a stroll in light wind off the California Coast. I didn’t put the mainsail. I just hoisted the cruising Flying Fish spinnaker and sailed close angles to the wind (110-100 TWA; 75-60 AWA). The spinnaker was quietly happy with that. After an hour I turned around and hoisted the large code 0, trying to keep the AWA at 55. All in all, it was a really nice day of sailing; we even hit speeds of about 8 kts!

Sunday, with Alex, we finally completed the navigation lights replacement projects. While Alex was busy working in close quarters aft, moving foam in and out of reserve flotation compartments, I continued to replace old lashings. In particular, I replaced the bowsprit lashing (well, one of the 3), as well as the lashings for the low friction ring used for the roller-furler tack. So, now we have 3 functioning lights (port, stern, starboard), which are handy when sailing at night in harbors or bays. Offshore we would use the masthead tri-color light.

That’s all for now.

The above pretty much summarizes what’s been going on with Changabang. We’ve been going through a few small boat jobs:

• Shortened mainsail outhaul as the bowline chafe cover was 30 % chafed through in one spot.
• Navigation lights replacement:
  • Refit stern nav lights brackets
  • Installed new LED stern nav lights
  • Wired starboard and stern nav lights (need to do port + re-install foam)
• Replaced traveler Ronstan cam cleat (x 2)
• Replaced lower backstay Dyneema loop (x 2)
• Replaced cam cleat for inner jib car control line (x 2)

The soccer season is back in swing with tournaments so I’m back on the pitch refereeing games to put a bit of money in the cruising kitty. As a result, Changabang’s sails have not seen the sun in a while now. I’ll say that I also injured my shoulder doing work in cramped spaces.

I had a good conversation with Atelier Cables in France about the standing rigging, in particular, the sleeved Kevlar stays (head, inner, back upper x 2, back lower x 2).

Next, I’m hoping for my shoulder to feel better so that we can go sailing next weekend. I have plans to install more cam cleats to offer better management of the hydro-generator’s down/uphaul tackle, as well as lead the main and spinnaker sheets to the companionway to allow for release from inside the boat. I would like to go up the rig again for an inspection. The bottom already needs a clean-up job. I’d like to replace the boom-end sheaves. The list is long …

If you own a boat you know. If you don’t then lucky you!

Ever since I purchased Changabang there’s one piece of equipment I’ve wanted to replace: the control mechanism for the throttle/gear shift of the diesel engine. Although very corroded it works except for one annoying thing. There’s a button on it that disengages the gear shift, which allows you to rev up the engine when using it to charge the batteries. It’s not important at all especially since one can simply disconnect the gear shift cable from the engine, accomplishing exactly the same outcome.

But I had been advised to replace it and I had purchased the part necessary to replace it. Last weekend under Alex’s encouraging nudge we started the work. It was quite the party to remove the old control mechanism. We had to take it apart just to get it out, which took many hours. Once we had it out we had to surrender to the fact that we were not going to be able to salvage the throttle lever. Lucky for us, Helmut’s Marine had one in stock, which Alex picked up Monday.

And so yesterday we finished the work. Today I confirmed that everything seems to work as intended. In fact, it looks for one reason or another we managed to gain one extra knot of boat speed. Our max motoring speed is now 7.28 kts. I don’t want to write a blow by blow recap of how this project went because, at every turn, we had to improvise a little, purchase new tools and hardware.

We also addressed a nagging problem. The port backstay clutch was not gripping the rope. No amount of cleaning would fix it. We took it off the boat, opened it, partly disassembled it, removed the rust, did a bit of sanding, and put it back into action. I also hope this repair will last. When things had to be done fast this clutch was a real liability when switching backstay. I’m glad we worked on this.

We are signed up for the 2024 Pacific Cup race to Hawaii. In preparation, I wanted to get some offshore double-handing under our belt, to know what it feels like. Last weekend we left Saturday morning and came back Sunday afternoon after spending a little over 200 miles at sea. It was good work. We sailed a bit away from the Coast and then sailed downwind. During that leg we changed the spinnaker 3 times, trying a douse by releasing the tack line first, and one by releasing the sheet first instead. I think we concluded that easing the sheet is best, with a bit of tack line off too. Then, with the water ballast full, we came back upwind towards the coast until the sun came down and proceeded to sail due West for the whole night. When the sun came back up we turned back towards HMB, sailing with the A1.5 spinnaker, then the gennaker. Finally, I chose to motor-sail the last 5 miles or so as the wind came down.

I didn’t get seasick, which was a positive surprise. I think with Alex we each found our space. There are few things to sort inside the boat for a longer stay at sea, but generally speaking, I think I was pleasantly surprised. The one thing that bothered me the next day or so was that I think that we need to be a little more respectful of safety guidelines, and in particular tethering to the boat at night.

Of course, things broke:

• The spinnaker halyard chafe cover came undone, which could have required a trip aloft. I’m lucky that wasn’t required. This was fixed underway. Although that halyard has seen better days!
• A bolt on the starboard tiller broke. That still needs fixing.
• The jib halyard is showing chafe in an unexpected place, which will require investigation.

We used the hydrogenerators to charge the batteries to full twice, which was good. Food-wise, it was the usual JetBoil & freeze-dried combo. I was well hydrated the first day but not so much the second day. I need to continue to drink through the night. Sunday morning we were greeted by dolphins who swam along Changabang for a while.

I was a little sore the next day, which, considering how much work we did compared to our usual sails outings, was not bad at all!

As a separate update on the maintenance front, I’ve been replacing Dyneema control lines for the jib cars, the lashings on the inner headstay blocks, and some of the safety lashings on the backstay blocks. The running rigging, after baking in the sun for the better part of 6 years, has seen better days!

All right, that’s all for now. Just a bunch of random thoughts collected into a blog post.

And voilà, Changabang is back from the yard with a new red bottom paint. It’s rolled on so possibly slower than the previously sprayed on. Hopefully, this Pettit Trinidad HD paint will last a little longer. I started out of Richmond under engine as the forecast called for very light winds. Certainly coming out of SF it was mostly on the nose. After a few hours, we were out of the Bay and headed South. Surprise! The wind was good in the 8-12 range and coming from about 60-70 TWA. I took me a while to get out of my motoring stupor but I hooked up the sails, hoisted them, and was happy to see us doing close to 9 kts or more! Oh, do I love the sound of Changabang planing!

Sadly, we hit a mola mola again. I looked back and it didn’t seem very happy. Being hit at 9 kts gotta hurt! There were whales but they (and I managed) to stay out of trouble. Getting close to Pillar Point, the wind died down and we motored for the last leg.

While the boat was on the dry, I worked on shortening the mid-bowsprit tack to gain one inch or more of luff. I’ve also started replacing the control lines for the jib car (truly a plain low friction ring). Back home, I received the replacement ball bearing for the NKE anemometer. So I’m working to fix that. I purchased 7mm Dyneema line to replace the 6mm. I changed brand for stronger strength so even though I’ll reduce the number of lashing loops (21 to 12), I will gain a 20% safety factor. 12 loops should allow better positioning of the lashing loops on the bow fitting than the 21 loops. And that’s all for now.

The last haul-out was before my first attempt, August/September 2020. I scheduled a haul-out and bottom paint job at Svendsen’s/Bay Marine. We sailed out of Pillar Point yesterday. It was a slow start with light wind in lumpy seas, but the wind picked up as we approached the Golden Gate. We entered through the channel as I was concerned about breakers over the sandbar. In the channel, we hit 15+ kts over GPS, which was nice.

The bottom looks fine, except for the paint peeling here and there. There are apparent marks where the posts had been positioned last time.

Not so good paint job marks.

Second haul out under my watch, no damage this time!

For a while, I’ve been adding jobs to the list and not removing them so it was time. Yesterday and today, I addressed the Dyneema lashing keeping the headstay attached to the bow. The original rope used was Gottifredi Maffioli DSK78 Ultra 6mm, as confirmed by the rigger who put it in place. I purchased some from Seagull Sails.

I had been told that it would be a matter of a few turns on the outside shrouds turnbuckles. In the end, I did 15 turns on each vertical and 6 turns on the diagonal. When I then loaded the inner stay, there was enough slack that I was able to remove the old lashing. It then took many trials to get the lashing to the right length, and even then I’m not sure it’s just right (in other words as it was before). In fact, in the picture below one can see that some strands were cut off; it’s possible that the lashing stretched out. The measurement I took before removing it may be inaccurate.

All in all this took me 8+ hours of hard work. Today I also did a most annoying job, which was to remove the vinyl wrap on the port side of the coachroof. It was so much sun-damaged that removing it wasn’t just a matter of heating it a bit and peeling it off. It would peel off and break in many small pieces. A nightmare of a job. Now I need to remove all the adhesive residue, and maybe there’s an opportunity for a new paint layer or a few stickers to hide some paint-damaged spots.