S/V Ripple

2009-12-18 The life lines terminate fore and aft in nylon bindings linking bronze thimbles on the life lines to bronze eyes screwed to the teak top rails.  The rear bindings were dangerously weakened, a number of the constituent cords having worn through.  Replaced with new nylon cord. I also spent time today sorting out how to tighten up the boat cover so that it looks better, and sheds water more effectively.  Raising the gaff and boom yokes, the gaff halyard, and the topping lift raised the boom, steepening the pitch of the cover, and a ridge line from the bow to the mast tightened up the front of the cover.

2009-12-13 I spent a couple hours at the dock getting to know Ripple , inventorying her lockers and checking out systems.  I think I found the problem with her electrical system (an ammeter, fried, with evidence of heat deformation on the back.  A loose lead from the shunt to the meter, as Dave Erskine suggested it might be. I excavated the bitter end of both anchor rodes, and secured them.  Looked over the ballast in the bow, thinking about securing it as recommended in the survey.  The lazerette had a boarding ladder for recovering the deck after a fall overboard (another issue raised in the survey.   The forward-port jam cleat needs to be reset, a screw having stripped out).  The stantion life lines need to be resecured at each of their stern points, a nylon binding being more than half-way severed on each side. As I was puttering, Bobby, a regular on the docks, showed me how to pivot the boat, end for end, in her berth, a simple manouever th...

2009-12-11 s/v Ripple took up residence in her new home on Friday.  A sailing friend, David, helped me bring Ripple into her berth.  Her greenhorn skipper learned a little about screw currents, offset shafts, and backing strategies.  I think it will be a while before I'm single-handing.  The sailing part is easy, or in this case, a short motor (pocketypocketypockety).  Transitions from weather to tether are something else again. We got her in ok, and bedded her down, full boat cover installed.