That is the question!
Eleanor’s frozen/faulty roller-furling has been the last big piece of the puzzle, I need something safe, cheap, and dependable. If you have ever been stuck in a blow with a sail you cant roll in or out you’ll know what I’m talking about.
Eleanor came with a vintage Dynafurl. I called the company that sells the parts for me to fix it and was shocked to hear the bearings are about $600. How can a set of bearings cost over $50? I’m tired of being taken advantage of and I immediately started looking for used furlers. I found a nice Profurl up in St Augustine for $1000 and hit the road.
I drove 8 hours yesterday and burned more fossel fuel that Carla and I consume in 5 months at home, only to return empty-handed. The owner of the roller-furling said he would break it down for me for shipping and I worked with him for 3 hours breaking down the furler.
He beaded all the bolts in the furling with 5200 instead of lock-tight when he assembled it, and we had to heat the bolts up with a torch to break them free. Just before we were finished he stood up, copped an attitude, and told me his blood-sugar was down and he didn’t want to finish breaking the furler down (another 1/2 hour) “take it as it is” he barked at me, “but I drove a long way and I have no tools” I replied.
Not having tools myself I left and came home empty-handed after an 8 hour drive, needless to say I was pretty pissed-off, and truthfully I don’t like buying anything from assholes.
I try to look for my path in everything I do. Driving back I asked myself what was the lessons in all of this and the little voice in my head told me I should “GO BACK TO HANK ON SAILS” (keep it simple sailor)!
I know hank-on jibs/genoas aren’t very popular anymore but the promise I made myself with Eleanor was SIMPLICITY!
So today I’m calling around looking for used sails.
What are the attributes of hank on sails? Performance, performance, and performance! I will also be able to see my for-stay which is a great safety feature, not to mention I don’t have to sew any sot of sacrificial UV material, downside is a little more work getting the sail up.
I also need to make a for-stay as the Dynafurl material is my current for-stay, bummer!
I’m going to look at some used sails tomorrow and fly to NY on Thursday. Its still quite cold but I really need to stick to my schedule and be out of there no later than the 3rd week of April in order to make it back to Panama by July.
I’ve taken on a crew member (Todd) that will be with me for the duration of my trip to Panama, he seems like a really cool guy.
Peace, Love, and Coconuts guys. Ill check in with you from NY.
Sail far and live slowly.
– Alex