Thursday, July 16, 2009

Lunenburg

So currently in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. I little but of a touristy town but it has what I need...a sail repair place and a boat repair place. Since the beginning of my trip my roller furler was a little sticky. Was having trouble pulling in and pulling out the sail. On the way into the harbor it was completely jammed. I pulled in, anchored and slept to deal with the headache of figuring out what to do in the morning. Thank goodness for Internet. Google brought me right to what I needed- "Covey Island yacht repair." John the owner himself came out the boat to have a look. We took the sail down and inspected the swivel...very grindy. He went back to the shop to make a call to the manufacturer. I dreaded the news...hoping desperately I would not have to take down the mast or undo the fore-stay to get this thing off and wait for a few days of shipping for a new one to come. But good news just dump some boiling water through it and work it a little hopefully dissolving salt that may have gotten in there. It worked! Nothing like a little home remedy to get things working again. One problem solved! Thanks John! But another one came about while removing the front sail. While I was just rolling it up...it ripped. Thankfully there is a sail maker just down the street. They looked at it and scolded me for not having the UV protection on the edges, which is what caused the tear. I felt like a child being scolded by her mother for not putting on my sun screen. They made me bring in the rest of my sails before they allowed me to do anything else. Thankfully, my other front sail was in working condition, solving the issue of a front sail, leaving yet another issue. This one had the UV protection but on the wrong side. No problem, just unfurl the furler and roll it up the opposite way. The main sail, on the other hand, needed a little beefing up. (This is the one that I hand stitched at seam that blew) so all for the price of $135 dollars I have a more trust worthy mail sail with stronger seems and a little bit of a face lift. It was done in record time. Done the next day!!! Thank you to my new girl friends at North Sails Atlantic!!! I have never been in a sail loft before...so cool, huge sewing machines in floor and a hole for the person sewing to sit in. Huge room, but not big enough for some of the sails they get. They said that its not uncommon for them for measuring purposes to pull the sail through the doors to into and across the street!!! Any way, a good stop and learning a lot.

3 comments:

MoMologette said...

Well....$135 for a fix, a little more reassurance and a neat experience/adventure all the way around isn't such a bad deal! Now the sails being pulled out the building and across the street...THAT would be a sight to see! I know I've been blog-slacking with posts and comments lately, but I'm still reading and thrilled your keeping us updated.

Unknown said...

Hi Sailor RN,
Just a tip that may help you... Too much tension on the jib sheet causes the furling drum to bind. Relieve some tension until the drum turns freely, without the jib sagging. That worked for me before. Cheers! Very nice photography.

Unknown said...

Thanks for the tip Maurice. Good to know about the drum. There was a man, Don Robinson who knew you and Chanty in Halifax. Knew about the Yanmar, he also had a Contessa 26 in the past.