Rigging

After successfully lowering the mast, the next stop was to have the standing rigging checked.  We had loosened it a bit when we dropped the mast.  When we raised it again, we tightened it the same amount of turns, but it still felt a bit loose.  I confirmed this by seeing what the rigging felt like on other boats of the same size.  Eventually, I decided to bring in the professionals.  I gave Steve White Rigging a call and he met me down on the boat one sunny afternoon.

The first thing we looked at were the turnbuckles.  He noticed that some of them were turned more into the bottom side then the top side.  The only way to correct this is to undo it completely.  It sounds obvious when you say it out loud.

I asked a ton of questions, and Steve was happy to answer them for me.
Q. Is that ghetto boom support I had rigged up to the back stay doing any damage?
A. Nope, it's ugly, but it's not hurting anything.

Q. Should I try to cut that rusty shackle off the forestay?

A. Nope, just leave it.  It's so badly rusted that it's practically part of the forestay now.

Q. How does that mast look?

A. It has a slight ding about four feet past the spreaders, but it looks ok otherwise.  It shouldn't be an issue.

Q. What should I use to lubricate the turnbuckles?

A. Turnbuckles don't require lubrication because the inside threads are bronze (at least that's what I think he said)

Q. Should we remove the shackle on the aft stay that's acting as a clevis pin?

A. Sure, it's not hurting anything, but since the turnbuckle had to be removed in order to even out the threaded rod (you can see the bottom is threaded in much further than the top), we can put in a clevis pin and you can reuse the shackle somewhere else.

Q. Should I tape the turnbuckles (or more specifically, the cotter pins in the turnbuckles)?

A. Yes, if you're worried about it catching on things.  But don't tape them all the way to the bottom.  This allows any water to run out.  Note that I've since got some great advice from the folks at Lost Laguna Sloops Yahoo list about using PVC pipe to cover up the turnbuckles/cotter pins.  It's cheap, it spins, and you don't have to redo it every time you want to turn a turnbuckle.  I'll post more when I get around to it.

Q. My lifelines are in really bad shape.  I picked up some clothesline cable that looks about the same.  Can I use that instead?

A. Generally clothesline cable is not stainless and won't last very long.  He mentioned that he could redo my lifelines using my existing fittings where possible.  The line is $1/foot and probably about $10 of hardware.  It would take half an hour to do, so another $35 in labour.  That's cheaper than the swage tool I was looking at buying.  He does not recommend the swage tools that use a wrench to turn.

Over all, great advice, and always good to chat with an experienced sailor.