The stick goes up

Mystic of Holyhead (successor to Lynn Rival)
Rachel and Paul Chandler
Thu 5 Jul 2018 14:57
It's easy to forget how complicated masts are.  Just an aluminium stick with a few wires holding it up?


Cables and halliards in place, now where did I put all the shrouds and stays?

Being a catamaran Mystic's rigging is different, designed for high shock loads with two backstays, checkstays and two sets of spreaders, so rather more complex than Lynn Rival's.  And of course the boat is nowhere near as stiff, so the check when tensioning the rigging is 'do the doors open OK?' rather than 'How banana shaped do we want to be?' Everything needed a thorough overhaul, including new rigging wire and rebuilding of the roller reefing gear (for the foresails).  One of the trickiest tasks was pushing and pulling all the electrical wires and halyards up the inside of the mast without getting them twisted up.  Then the various items that sit at the masthead - anenometer, radar target enhancer, navigation light and VHF aerial - were installed and checked before taking them off rather than risk them getting damaged in the lift.

With everything in place Rachel looked on anxiously as the crane hauled the mast into position, Paul and Rafael guiding it.  It all went smoothly and Mystic looks like a sailing boat once again.  The eagle-eyed will note that the drums for the furling gear and boom have yet to be put in place, let alone the sails.


Don't drop it!


Oh dear - the backstay connection at the masthead doesn't look right

The backstay splitter had become twisted in the lifting process.  Loosening everything allowed us to coax it into the correct position before fully tensioning the stays.

The weather turned a lot hotter for a week so we went back to inside work.  The lighting on the starboard side is now almost complete, the galley has new headlining and adjustments to other finishes.  Hopefully the final 3 new windows will be installed in a few days' time.  Now the weather is cooler again Paul has been finalising the rigging - as far as he can go before we're launched - and installing a replacement (lighter and shorter) pole for the satellite dish and other paraphernalia at the stern.


Pole for the various antennae and reversing light (sorry, been ashore too long, - stern light)

By now the boatyard has emptied out of most aspiring cruisers - apart from a few diehards like us - so we have fewer distractions.   Meanwhile Rachel has been making good progress with her physiotherapy and we are aiming to launch by the end of August.