We got Ravenswing’s snugged-up daggerboard refitted Saturday, and as it sits under the mast, that cleared the way to restep the rig first thing Monday morning. I was eager to access the mast and boom to finally, accurately measure the mainsail. We knew something had gone wrong in the planning of enlarging the sail (because this mast is taller than the first one), but i hadn’t measured how short the luff (forward edge) is on the mast track. Instead we had been sailing with it not fully raised to the top, so that the bottom of the sail was in the right place at the boom. So, up it went on a still-air Monday morning.

We took measures and photos, then pulled it down, removed the long battens, and packed it into the pickup for a return to California and likely the original sail loft for an extra panel add. I’ll be very excited to sail the boat this spring with the main properly matched up to this new amazing mast. And speaking of added horsepower, the performance cat GenM next to us has raised their spinnaker halyard 6’ during a strengthening refit of their standing rigging. Their asymmetric spinnaker doesn’t fit their boat anymore and i was around as they received their new spin. We got to talking about sail dimensions, and darn if their old one didn’t sound really close to Ravenswing’s numbers. So we hauled it across the paddock and sent it up the halyard…

We grabbed a lull in the evening breeze to quickly deploy the sail and check how far back along the boat it reaches (foot length). Fits very well, and it’s the heavier 1.5oz fabric I prefer because it’s more durable than the 0.75oz racing sails. So Marvin and I are talking about a possible sail sale.

Yeah it’s the same Marvin who helped us out with spray painting. These bits look great.

Those are the rudder cassette (housing), tiller extension and bowsprit.

To wrap up this work session we did a number of small rigging upgrades, including refresh of the backstays. Here is new anchoring to the deck of fresh running backstay tails as they lead to the cockpit winches. You guys saw a few months back the lovely box of shiny cordage from Skateaway Designs. It looks even better on the boat ;)

After the very busy Monday of stepping the rig, installing/measuring/removing main and trying out that spinnaker, plus packing up the truck and cleaning up the crazy-mess work camp, I hit the road for home at 6am Tuesday. This time I took MX highway 8 up to Sonoyta but didn’t cross there, instead running MX 2 along the border to San Luis.

There’s a SENTRI lane at the San Luis / Yuma border, which if you properly online-register your vehicle, pay the convenience fees, etc., works really well. I realized my US trusted traveler Global Entry card can be used for SENTRI on the southern border. Last time I tried the lane but hadn’t registered the pickup, which is a big no-no and earned 1.5 hours in the border patrol penalty box. This time I sailed thru the SENTRI lane and avoided the big border line.

After 16 hours on the road, it was fantastic to park it in the driveway at home. Probably a new personal best for single day driving. Check the trip odometer; I don’t need to top this one anymore.

PS. When is 8 week old chocolate work a 650 mile drive? Answer next time here at cartersboat.com