Container Bashing and other things ...

 So here we are back on board for a solid fortnight with a lot to do ... and it has to be admitted that progress has been slow so far.

The priority is to tackle all the jobs that need or ought to be done whilst the rig is off the boat 'cos we really don't want to have to remove the masts again for many a long year.

And at the very top of that list is a job we've known was going to need doing for some time - removing the starboard cap shroud chain plates, cleaning them up (and hoping like hell they're good to be refitted!) and then refitting them with fresh sealant. It needs doing because there's clear signs of water weeping through from on deck and running down the plates either side of the main bulkhead ...

You can clearly see brown streaks, which aren't rust 'cos they're on top of the paint, on the plate inside the wardrobe on the forward face of the bulkhead and the matching plate on the much harder to get at aft face of the bulkhead isn't much better.

The first task was to remove the deck fitting ...

...  and that didn't prove too easy at all! But it came out in the end and then the chain plates themselves had to be removed. Getting at the nuts was easy but to get at the bolt heads and drive the bolts out meant removing the starboard saloon locker front and some butchery of the end structure of the locker itself with the reciprocating saw to cut holes for the bolts to pass through (photos to follow).

So far so good but by this stage I was getting absolutely fed up with not being able to find tools and material in our container next to where Pagan is ashore.

The container was in a reight mess with the work bench covered in "stuff" and access to our storage shelves and cupboard blocked by ladders, timber, two dinghies and all sorts of other "stuff."

So we broke off from working on the boat to have have container bashing session. First up, everything (near enough) out. Then everything back ... tidy!

Well, alright, tidy-ish! By the time I remembered to take a piccy, I was actually using the workbench, something we haven't been able to do for a while, and if you look closely you'll see the parts of the aforementioned chain plate on the bench about to be cleaned up.

In fact, as I write they're cleaned up and ready to go back on the boat but I'll post pics of that later.

The next job is cleaning up inside and out where the plates fit and then they can be reinstalled and we'll move on to the next job. Whatever that is. I'm just taking one job at a time!

P.S. I can hear some folks ask ... what is a "chain plate"? There's probably a few wondering what the hell "standing rigging" is too. So a quick and dirty glossary ...

The Rig: On a sailing vessel, "the rig" is everything associated with the bits you hang the sails on.

So that's the masts, obviously, but also the wires (or on traditional vessels the ropes) that hold the masts up (actually that isn't what they really do but it suffices for simplicity) and the fittings those wires attach to.

Shrouds: The shrouds are the wires (or ropes, see above) that go from the mast or masts to the sides of the boat. There's usually a shroud either side from the very top of the mast called the Port or Starboard "Cap Shroud" and shrouds from about two thirds of the way up the mast leading forward and aft called the Port or Starboard "Forward Lower Shroud" and "Aft Lower Shroud"

Just to complicate matters, Pagan. like most Westerlys, doesn't have forward lower shrouds either side, she has a single "Baby Stay" which serves the same purpose.

Stays: These are the wires that lead fowards and aft from the mast. The forestay goes from the top of the amst (or near enough) to the bow, the Backstay goes from the top of the mast to , you guessed it, the stern. 

Once again, we complicate matters 'cos we're a ketch so our backstay is actually split into two part way down and lands either side of the aft end of the cockpit overlapping the shrouds for the mizzen mast.

And finally, the generic term for the fittings that the shrouds and stays attach to is "Chain Plate". On sailing ships of old, the last few feet of each shroud or stay was actually made of chain and the whroud chains were shackled to a plate or plates securely bolted to the hull sides. Hence "chain plate"

And if you want to know more ... buy a book!