Sunday, November 7, 2010

Snapping Mast

Ohhh, the horror,
I've taken Rosa-J out a couple of times now but each time there were two people in the boat, both grown adults.
Today, for the first time, I went out by myself. The breeze was 'stiff'', no idea of the actual speed. Wow, Rosa-j was fast and very responsive... almost 'twitchy' in how quickly she responded to rudder movements. Actually, it was a bit scary. The first turn I did the sheet pulled hard, she tipped hard sideways and I was nearly in the water. So different to having the weight to two adults in the boat.
Well, I thought I was getting the hang of it when I tried another turn. The sheet went very tight, she started to tip and suddenly SNAP!!!! Suddenly I had two bits of mast instead of one. I was in the middle of the lake, hoping the wind would push me to shore otherwise I was going to have a long swim.
So, finger jointed pine is NOT the material to make your mast out of.
Back to the drawing board and time to contemplate what makes a good mast and what doesn't.

2 comments:

  1. Oh no, did the wind blow you back?

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  2. Yep, but what a long sail it was! Actually only took about 5 minutes but what a long 5 minutes. The lake might not be all that popular but the walking track around the outside is.
    One minute a proud owner builder, next a pricked ego and an ignominious drift back to shore, with an audience. Ohhh, the shame.
    Still, new mast construction the Friday, then back into it.

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