CDCR 2K23 2 of 6 parts

[Charles Brennan]

(Sorry for posting on the installment plan; seems to be a new restriction.)

Especially for dealing with the inevitable backstay mast stand entanglement.
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You can see it more clearly, here.
For those wondering what inspired this kluge; well, it solved two problems for me.
When the roller was at the original height, a fitting at the bottom of the mast made it difficult to install the mast bolt.
Also, I used to have to lift the mast up and back for the spreaders to clear over the roller.
This arrangement solves the height issue and allows the spreaders to stop before they hit the roller.
No more hoisting up and over. Those shackles attach to the upper mast tangs for trailering on the road.
As dumb as it looks, it works great, now.
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I find that after major exertions I have to stop for a few minutes, basically to wait for my heart rate to drop from 100-120 down to about 60 -80.
So while I was able to rig and leave the dock in 30 minutes after arrival back in my 20's and 30's, nowadays it's a little over an hour or so.  I didn't really care, because I was wating for the tide anyway.
An old guy walked by and admired the boat and also offered to take a pic.
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Right about sunset, the tide was just right!  So I launched.
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On my way out to Biscayne Bay, with my cabin looking the most organized it's going to be, all weekend.
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I love boating at night.
It is easy to see shoals and channels by the way the water looks at night, "still waters run deep" and all that water lore.
I anchored the boat, remembering to crank the swing keel up so it wouldn't snag the anchor rode on the tide change; another hard-learned lesson which still engenders occasional PTSD moments, even 18 years later.
I was able to thread my way between shoals to get to where I wanted to anchor for the night, smack in the middle of the Bay and as far as I could get from the different clubs on the Miami main land and Key Biscayne.
Competing salsa, cumbia, hip-hop, rap and Southern Rock is no way to spend a night aboard.
OTOH, I figure if you can't sleep through that, maybe you're just not tired enough yet; but I found me a quiet spot, equidistant where no one sound predominated.
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Until the THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! Of the Jamaican band that apparently just returned from their break, came back on just across the Bay from me, by the Marine Stadium.
The bass notes actually made the hull resonate way out in the middle of the Bay.  As a former Acoustician and Rock n' Roller, I was impressed at the wattage required to do that.
Ah, well.
I looked up through the forward hatch to admire the night-sky dance of airliner strobe lights, all doing their nightly square dance promenade into Miami International Airport, until I fell asleep.
Woke up in the middle of the night, to the sudden silence and realized it must be 3am.

Morning dawned, where it was immediately apparent to me that the winds were not awake, just yet.
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All the usual suspects were milling around in anticipation of the race start.
Well, "milling" might be a generous term.
Drifting around, is more like it.
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Part 3 coming.
Charles Brennan