four weeks, not three

Just a couple of weeks until the spring sail in North Carolina.  After a few weeks on the river for day sailing, I’ve got SPARTINA home for pre-trip maintenance.  Mostly touch up paint and bright work, all done with the work boat finish.  

I had thought I was nearly packed for this trip.  I had planned a winter trip down south, which I cancelled the morning I planned to start the trip as I realized nighttime temperatures would be in the 30s and sometimes in the 20s, plus snow.  I stowed all the food from that trip, all ready for the spring trip.  Right?  Wrong.  As I pulled out the tubs of freeze-dried meals, breakfast bars and cans of tuna, I realized the winter trip was planned for three weeks at the most.  So I had three weeks of food ready to go.  This trip should be closer to four weeks.  So I did some quick ordering from Amazon, and a run to the store for dried fruits and nuts.  I will repack the food supplies from scratch, just to be sure I’ve got the right amount.

They say dyneema doesn’t stretch.  I have found that eventually it does not stretch, but initially it does…

I was due for some new dynemma shrouds.  A friend who is pretty good with knots helped me splice the new shrouds using the locking splice on the “premium ropes” app.  They came together fine, and perfectly matched, stitched and whipped.  I used 1/8 inch dymeema, which seemed thin but according to the specs could lift three SPARTINAS no problem.  

After a few days of day sailing, maybe 12 hours on the water, the shrouds had stretched to the point the turnbuckles were flopping on the decks.  I have since heard the words set, stretch, creep and preloading.  Enough to make me think I should deal with the dyneema shrouds later, maybe a summer project.

I do not want to head to North Carolina with shrouds that stretch - there can be a lot of wind there this time of year.  So I made up some wire shrouds to get me through this trip.  It certainly makes the main mast heavier to raise, but at least the shrouds won’t stretch.

A few more days of maintenance, then a test sail, and then a trip to California.  Hope to cast off for the spring sail May 1.