Friday 20 July 2012

In the pit



In diving they talk about the incident pit, a series of small decisions that end up putting you in a place where something serious happens.

That is how it was for of this year with putting the mast up. The mast crane was partly blocked by a moored pontoon. But I thought I could get the coat close enough to do the job.  When it got tricky we tried to stabilize things by getting a shroud down.  From there it was a step to overtightening . And a bent spreader.

Worse, it put a twist on the mast fixing and a long moment of despair.

That was in May.  I now have a new spreader- and a mast fitting of the right profile and a man booked to fit it. A long slow season, climbing out the pit...