Near miss

New jib halyard

This morning, as soon as I had downed the obligatory two lattes, I set to work splicing a new snap shackle onto the end of our jib halyard.  You see, ever since we bought Eolian, that shackle has been a problem.  The retainer is off of the retaining pin, and therefore the only thing actually holding the pin in place (and the shackle closed) is some wraps of electrical tape.  No bueno.

So.  Since we had to take the jib off for our haulout this coming Friday (the yard does not allow roller furling jibs - apparently one came unfurled in the past and set off a game of dominos), I thought this morning would be a great time to replace the shackle.  After all, it was a beautiful, warm morning - the nicest of the year so far.

But when Jane came back to the boat after doing some errands, I had spent more than two hours trying to splice a new shackle into that old line.  Note to self:  never, NEVER try to splice old line.  And she was ready to take the boat out for the first day of the year.  And instead of being ready, I was frustrated.

So I made a trip to West Marine and bought 104' of 1/2" line and replaced the halyard.  And as it turns out, it's a good thing I did - the old line was badly chafed - in one spot the cover was gone and the core was badly worn.  So now, with the things that remain to be done to cast off the lines, we won't make it off the dock.

Does this count as chips into the Black Box?  I hadn't originally intended to replace the halyard...  

So our first trip of the year will still be the short one - over to Seaview West for the haulout.

Rats.

Near miss