Getting the mast down is the first step. Untie everything and wash it down. Refit the spreaders and the outer stays.. and then sort out the mess so everything will arrive in the right place when it gets upright. A bottlescrew that has a damaged thread and a trip to the chandelry at the shop. Not forgetting a new Windex (how many is that now?).
Lift over the mast to a trolley and carefully wheel 9m of mast out past the parked cars to bag a spot on the quay.
What sort of idiot moors a thirty-five footer on the quay half blocking the mast crane? We squeeze Mata Hari in to lie alongside and practise that peculiar ballet of getting the mast into position and the stays fastened on... and if someone can tell me a cast-iron technique for keeping the windex out of the mast-crane then do, please!
A spectator - great! .. stood impatiently watching with a mast on the roofrack of his Volvo, sticking out a good eight feet in both directions. A triumph of ingenuity over road safety! It turned out to be the mizzen for a (different ) 35 footer. Nuff said.
Just let's get the backstay in place and we can be off back to the berth to tension up everything. Boom, topping lift, main-sheet, kicker, downhaul, cunningham - hoist the genoa onto the roller reefing - Fit the the mains'l, boom cover, sprayhood.
..and refit the refurbished connector for the mast navlight. (Thanks Micke!)
All done :-)
Almost. The lamp's still open circuit. no.. yes.. ermm.. oh. an intermittent connection in the switch.
Oh well. Tomorrow is another day.. and we're ready to sail!
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