CS34 Mast Wiring

Launch at the Whitby Yacht Club was Covid 19 delayed a full month until June 4th.
I had the mast up on Still Time the day after launch, the fastest I have ever put it up!

However, all the wiring in the mast:

• anchor light
• steaming light
• deck light

...did not work at all.

I tried troubleshooting it from below to no avail.

For our cruise east this year, we need a working anchor light, so I had to take the mast down to fix it.

Walter and Steve helped me take the jib off and the main at the dock:

We removed the boom and placed in on the deck:

Then motored over to the mast crane:

Had to take the sails and boom off because your couldn't safely lift the mast with them on.

We rigged up a lifting line between the lower/upper spreaders.
The line is securely connected to the gooseneck taking the weight.
The loop around the mast between the spreaders keeps the mast vertical.
This line connects to the crane above the center of mass of the mast so it is easy to lift it:

Note how I back the boat to the crane.  This keeps the crane away from the expen$ive wind instrument.

Not a problem with the lower water levels this year.

Steve worked the crane:

We had the crane take some weight, and disconnected the shrouds/forestay/backstay.
We then lifted the mast perhaps 6" and move it to the side to expose the rat's nest.

I was below troubleshooting the 3 ciruits with Walter and JP troubleshooting on the deck. 

There are four connections under here that get stuff up the mast when it is stepped

• VHF coax cable
• TV coax cable (never used)
• wind instrument (6 conductor trailer connector)
• anchor/steaming/deck lights (4 conductor trailer connector)

These have worked flawlessly for several years.

What we found it that the pins on the 4 conductor trailer connector for the lights were corroded.
You bump the connector and it work, bump it again and it doesn't work.

We used a knife and sandpaper to remove some of the corrosion, and that fixed it.

We put an electrical zip tie on the connector to keep it tightly connected:

Didn't have any dielectric grease and will do that in the off season.

All told it took about a hour to lift the mast and drop it and connect everything.

We got the boom quickly on, and hoisted the mainsail motoring over to my slip, dropping it in the sail bag.  We put the headsail on at the dock.

This is how the wires are terminated inside the boat:

Cleans up real nice:

Still Time mast lights are all better!

UPDATE: the following Sunday I spent several hours attaching the reefing lines and turning the rig.

CS34 NOTL to Whitby

Up at 8am, got ready, and left the dock by 9:30am

There was only 2-3 knots of wind, but it was supposed to build and swing to the SW later this morning, so we didn't even bother with the sails.  Tons of whirlpools at the mouth of the Niagara River:

Once past the shoals, we turned right waiting for the wind to fill in:

Wind came in from the NW about 6 knots after about 45 minutes.
You can see above where we turned into the wind to hoist the main.
The point of sail was a close reach.

About half way across the lake, the wind increased to 10 knots and swung left to the SW, so up went the chute and off went the motor.

...and The Beckoning motor sailed on ahead

The winds died down about 3 miles from the north shore, so on with the motor to get home.

Trip Start: 9:26am
Trip End: 03:33pm
Trip Duration: 06:06
Trip Length: 37.4 miles
Average Speed: 6.1 knots

Shhhh, don't tell anyone that we cut the corner into American waters!

Engine hours start: 1053.8
Engine hours end: 1058.6

Motoring hours:4.8 hours

CS34 NOTL Day 03

 Walter and Colleen went for a dingy ride up the Whirlpool:

Rita and I went downtown NOTL where I bought some nice "7 Downey" dress shirts for a good deal.
We were able to hookup with old work friend Kim who has retired and moved to NOTL.
We we for a long walk with the dogs.

We went for a dingy ride to check out the waterfront homes:

We changed our dinner plans to eat at the NOTL golf course:

The walk along the waterfront to the club was spectacular!

While waiting for our tables, we got to sit in some golf carts:

Then in some Muskoka Chairs:

Then to our table beside the 18th green:

Meanwhile the NOTL racing fleet was in the distance:

...and were coming in as we were finishing our dinner:

Take a look at the sign behind Walter:

 Marijuana Smoking Prohibited

...and the NOTL Shark fleet came in from around the corner after racing.

We enjoyed the wonderful homes of NOTL on the way back:

Full moon baby!

CS34 NOTL Day 02

 We were up a little after 8am:

We had a reservation at Pellar Estates Winery for 5pm, as well as a wine tasting for 3:30pm.

The plan was to take the dingy to Smuggler's Cove Boat Club up the river and walk to Pellar Estates:

Would be about a 1km walk to the winery.

We decided to take a dingy ride up river to check out Smuggler's Cove Boat Club.

We confirmed that we could park our dingy at Smuggler's Cover and walk to the winery.

Just look at the current in the river:

Shadow enjoyed the ride:

How about a slide on your pontoon boat?

...and on back to NOTL Sailing Club:

Trip Start: 9:23am
Trip End: 10:48am
Trip Duration: 01:24
Trip Length: 4.5 miles
Average Speed: 3.2 knots
Max Speed: 10.9 knots

Then walked downtown for some retail therapy:

Lunch at a dog friendly outdoor cafe:

...and back to the boat, where Shadow and I passed out:

By 2pm, we had to think about going back up the river to make it to Peller Estates for a 3:30pm wine tasting.  The skies were looking NASTY.  The weather radar app on my phone show a major cell coming our way.  We decided to call a cab or UBER.  There aren't any cabs in NOTL.   UBER could not bring a cab from St Catherines until almost 3:30pm!

MAN DID IT RAIN

The UBER FINALLY came, and we could see the flooding walking to the gate:

It was about a 10 minute cab ride to Peller Estates winery.

We missed our wine tasting and went for dinner for 5:30pm

Wonderful fine dining!

We squeezed in a wine tasting afterward.

The UBER for the ride back came within 30 minutes.