29 May 2016 — Being a Good Neighbor
Sailors are often times found helping each other out. Every boater’s problem shared is another boater’s learning opportunity as well.
Neighbors across our dock have an inmast furling system for their main sail. Most people like these because of the ease of raising and lowering their sail. The sail furls (or rolls) in and out of the mast.
(We have a more traditional system where the sail rises and lowers from the boom and has to be tied up and secured each time.)
Today, our neighbors were having problems with their sail and it had gotten stuck in the mast and wouldn’t go out or in. Bob volunteered to go up the mast to try to free the sail. This entails him sitting in a bosun’s chair and attaching it to the halyard, and having folks below hoist him up the mast.
Three or more men stayed down below on the boat and assisted in raising and lowering Bob while also trying to pull the sail out.
Although it is a common experience to have someone go up the mast at times for maintenance and repairs, the dock had wives watching, all glad it wasn’t their husband up the mast.
Bob was able to free the sail, and they tried again to raise it up and down, and again it got stuck….And again…. Bob ended up going up their mast 3 times today. Although there are no photos to prove it, he did end up going all the way to the top of the mast for the last effort.
It was questionable as to who had the worst job, Bob or the guys down below physically getting tired having to hoist him up three times. By the end, they finally borrowed another neighbor’s battery operated portable device that basically powers the winch so no manual pulling is necessary.
Bob says the view was great from up there. And yes, a cold beer was waiting for him down below once the project was complete.