"When I think of all the fools I've been it's a wonder that I've sailed this many miles." -Guy Clark

Sunday, August 29, 2021

cloudy then clear, and a wonderful morning breeze


The morning started off with a huge dark cloud over the river, and a very nice breeze.  Just the tiniest hint of rain and the cloud moved on.  The wind stayed.


If you watch the video you will see there is some slack in the dyneema starboard shroud.  It is the same with the port shroud.  I have tightened both shrouds multiple time but after a short sail I get some more slack.  They say that dyneema does not stretch.  I was told by a tall ship captain the other day that while dyneema does not "stretch" it does have some "creep," and there is, according to the captain, a distinction between the two.  We'll see.  I will continue tightening up until the slack is gone.


 It was a wonderful morning, probably the best since the heat arrived.

4 comments:

johnz said...

You have probably already done this but just in case you haven't, it's really important to put ten or so stitches of whipping line through the doubled up part of the splice, catching both the inner and outer braid. When there's no load on the splice the fibers are free to move around and the eye tends to open up, way more than the published creep numbers.

Please ignore if you have already done this, I learned the hard way.

"Spartina" looks great and I'm looking forward to following the fall cruise!

Seth said...

Steve, it's hard to tell from the video, but could that slack actually be from your mast flexing to leeward? The face that it happens on the other shroud on the other tack could be a tip-off. My Dyneema shrouds are set up bowstring tight at launch, and the inherent, though slight, flexibility of the rig does the same thing to me. I've resisted tightening sagging leeward stays for fear of sending the mast like an arrow through the bottom of the boat!

Rik_Studio said...

Nice dynema shrouds. Missed seeing the schooner completely, only looking at Spartina's newness.

Steve said...

Seth, yes, it is due to the mast flexing. I had my original set of shrouds set so that this did not happen, the shrouds on both sides stayed tight on either tack. But it was 15 years ago that I set them up. I probably went through the same process of adjusting to get the right set and have simply forgotten it. Steve

Rik, yes, I am pleased how the boat looks these days. A little paint and some new hardware will do that. Steve