Under the Furler

[njwtech]

I have a CDI furler on my Watkins and it works pretty well, but I have a concern. When I got the boat, the standing rigging was loose. I tightened everything up, but the scary thing was that I found several of the cotter pins were missing from the turnbuckles on the shrouds and the backstay. I have to assume that is why the rigging was loose. Of course I installed cotter pins now so it doesn't happen again.

My problem is I can't figure out how to get the CDI furler out of the way to see if the headstay has cotter pins in it. My concern is that - like the backstay - the headstay has no cotter pins in it and is slowly coming apart under the CDI where I can't see it. I would hate to suddenly be wearing the mast and boom like a hat. But I don't want to take the wrong thing apart and have something that I don't want fall apart on the furler. I already lost a brand new phone overboard trying to see how it goes together (now I only wear shirts with no pockets).

Can anyone tell me how I can open up the furler and slide it up the forestay or somehow see inside it so that I can see if the forestay is secured properly? I am including some photos I took the other day with my phone of all the various pins and split rings that are in the furler. Any help to understand how it is assembled would be appreciated.

 

[whatfiero]

First ya got to pull your sail then just pull the pin on side that connects furler to track and slide furler up and there's ya turnbuckles the other cotter pins were out cause the po adjusted rigging constantly under different wind conditions you don't want it too tight buy a book and tuneing tool and check your rigging too tight can put a lot of stress on rig

 

[justsomeguy]

http://www.sailcdi.com/sailpdf/FF2 manual 7_06.pdf

 

[njwtech]

Judging by the condition of the boat when I got it the po wasn't constantly tuning the rigging - or varnishing, or painting, or cleaning, or maintaining the engine, or fixing the lights, or anything else. Most of the rigging was so slack it flopped around like a wet noodle. The boat hadn't had a bit of varnish since at least 2004... I had to replace nearly all the wood on the boat. The po bought it off a moorage where it had sat for two years with the interior delaminating and then he went out with it a couple of times a year but didn't maintain or fix anything except for a bottom job last year. :cry:

Thanks for the information. I'll pull the sail this weekend.

 

[tommays]

In my experience the rotation of the furler on its bushings wears away the standing rigging wire in the areas inside the furler that cant be seen over a long period of time

As this can end badly its a good thing to check

 

[njwtech]

In my experience the rotation of the furler on its bushings wears away the standing rigging wire in the areas inside the furler that cant be seen over a long period of time

As this can end badly its a good thing to check

Thanks tommays. That is at the top of my list right now on the refurb of this boat. I am taking it on a ~120 mile trip next weekend and I want to make sure the mast is going to stay where it is. I want to move the furler out of the way so I can check for wear and make sure the cotter pins are in place. After the work I have already done on her and seeing the condition of everything else I don't trust a single part to go without close inspection.

 

[njwtech]

Hi All,

I thought I would add this update/cautionary tale. I had a thousand little jobs to do, but I absolutely was not going to leave the marina on our weekend journey without seeing what was under the furler. It was coming down to the wire on the last day before we leave when I was finally able to look with a little help from my friend Sum.

What I found was exactly what I feared. The cotter pins that were used by the last person to adjust the forestay were not stainless. They had rusted to nothing, and the turnbuckle was free to turn. It had about 6 turns left and it would have been released. It could easily have let go at any time.

So for what it is worth, my advice to anyone that has not looked under your furler for a while is to take a peak. It might save your boat.