Commodore's View
For the thirteen years that LAUREL ANN was a Cape Dory, it seems I had little to worry about in terms of upkeep. With a fibreglass hull and deck, there was little to do but keep small dents and scratches filled. The Westerbeke was the next best thing to a perpetual motion machine, and the rig seemed like it was welded together. Now that LAUREL ANN is a Morgan, things aren’t that simple. Yeah, I know, you’ve heard this before. Well there’s a different point this time, stay tuned. The Cape Dory was delivered to us fresh from the factory, totally new and drum-tight. The Morgan waited for us to come and get her after twenty years away from the factory, some of which were spent in charter in the islands. Her documentation lists only four owners before us, but the time spent in charter is almost like changing owners. The difference is that in charter, the owners only hang out for a week and never do maintenance.
Now, all that maintenance is getting caught up. The cooling system for the Yanmar is pretty much all new, and that also took care of the source of the leak (the old raw water filter was plastic and had cracked at some point allowing a small but persistent drip.....) The leaking port is replaced, as is the unlaying topping lift. There’s some spare halyards being set up, and I think I’ll go ahead and replace the existing halyards and sheets which I believe are original equipment. Of course, all this IS on ‘the list’. You remember the list? We all have one, the perpetual "to-do" list for our floating holes in the water into which....... You know the one, it keeps getting longer. I’ve added soft mounts for the engine, a new water heater, a new muffler, re-plumb, re-wire, re-upholster. You know, I knew I should have bought stock in West Marine. There’s a lot of time, effort and receipts involved here, but it’s starting to pay off. We recently got LAUREL ANN out of the slip for the St. Paddy’s Cruise. She made it all the way down to Hallow’s Cove and back without breaking a thing.
We came close, though. While at the cruise, I chanced a glance at the top of my main sheet tackle. You know what it looks like, a bail on the boom which has a multiple block of some kind suspended by a shackle. The Cape Dory had come with shackles that used clevis pins and circle clips. The Morgan, evidently, came with shackles that had non-captive screw pins. The pin in this shackle was less than a thread from being an escaped and free screw pin. A simple matter for a pair of pliers to make sure that it’ll be another twenty years before it gets that loose, but I bet that it won’t be that long before I look at it again.
And there’s that new point that I was referring to. The list that we all have needs to include periodic checks on things that you normally don’t think about. In your rigging, do the connector shackles have pins, clips, or screws? When’s the last time you checked? Go ahead, I’ll wait. What about fasteners in general? Time and the inevitable vibration that is part of the life of a sailboat will eventually convince the tightest screw, nut or bolt to abdicate it’s responsibility. Next time you’re down at the dock, take some time and go over everything, the smaller the better. If it’s a thru-bolt that you cannot see every day, it’s more important that you take a look. While you’re at it, check the fluids in the engine. No, wait, that’s a reminder for me. Here’s a reminder for you. It’s April, time for the moonlight cruise to nowhere and the Blue Max race and cruise. Check the appropriate Captain’s Column for the details. See you there.