Main Sail Up, Up, and Away
Last week, I took the boat out to Ft. Desoto to sail with Ricky, Jeff, and Dan. Met Colin at the dock as he lives nearby and wanted to see the boat. I enlisted Colin's help to push off the dock and ride the tiller as I proceeded to raise the main with the new slides. The result was good. Close attention must be paid to the lazy jack lines for clearance of the first two batons, but after that, the main goes up up right smartly. No straining at the top. Bottom line is that I can single hand the main out on the water in my preferred fashion: hove-to on starboard tack.
The roller slides are snug to fit to the mast slot. I will get the starboard mast gate plate completed soon. But I am pleased to with the roller slide action. I am confident that main sail raising, reefing, and dousing can be successfully accomplished in just about any condition.
