F had discovered that 2 screws were missing at the bottom of the staysail furler which had caused the foil to slip down and jam solid. Harken UK were very helpful with diagrams and a description of the specialist screws (dog point grub screws). Unfortunately, they are not allowed to ship to Europe if a local dealer exists. Sadly, the dealers are hundreds of miles away, so an F-style mod. was in order, as new ones couldn’t be sourced quickly. Drills, taps and spare screws pressed into service to fix the issue. Discovered that the rigger in Canada had mashed a screw on another part that needed to be removed for access. Another hour to remove one screw. End result not as pretty but will allow a return to the original design. (once we get the correct “dog point grub screws”). Checked the two on the other foresail and they were also loose. These should all be permanent fixtures, so not impressed with the attention to detail of the Canadian rigger, who was in a rush to finish, so he and his staff could fly off to Bermuda to skipper a boat back to Lunenburg. Hopefully, no other defects will come to light.
This morning the marina staff kindly pressure washed the pontoon and removed all the bird droppings. Now a perfectly clean spot for hosing the salt off the sail prior to hoisting.
