Dig the Rig

As I've looked around online (when I'm out in town obviously) I've struggled to find good details of different folks' reefing solutions. So here is my potentially lame attempt to put it all together. Not that Shan Skailyn's rig is the best example or anything. But wherever it fits on the scale of good-bad, here are pictures of the details. I would just post all the pix separate, but our limited email system cannot handle that many attachments. So I'm combining in one larger picture. You'll have to forgive my possible skewing of terminology. In many cases I'm just being descriptive without actually knowing what everything is called.

Mast and Boom Assembly

Here are some pictures of Shan Skailyn's stub mast and luff spar all assembled last weekend. As you can see, I still have some loose ends to tie up. Some of it depends on whatever reefing system I settle on. My original plan to reef by lowering the sail has proven to be problematic. Not impossible, just requiring more gear than I have at the moment.

Note the two cleats on either side of the stub mast. The one on the right in the picture is for the halyard, so I can quickly release in case things feel out of control (necessary for this unexperienced wanna-be sailor). The other cleat is for the rope that keeps the luff spar tensioned in it's universal joint.

Bamboo Mast Completed

I was able to put the finishing touches on the bamboo mast. If you remember, this is part of a stub mast configuration, so the base is made to pivot in a socket; kind of like a universal joint. The eye splice (pink loop) is for threading the downhaul from the boom. The orange wrap is to prevent the boom jaws from wearing into the bamboo. When I lower the sail for reefing, the white collar keeps the boom jaws from dropping below a certain point. In the other pic you see the sheave I installed at the head of the mast so that I can lower the sail for reefing.

Currently working on building the reefing system into the sail and boom. Pix to follow!