Latest News on Restoring ECHO

HALYARDS: There's lots of rope coming out of ECHO's
mast base, five halyards, each of which is spiced wire to rope,
and the expose wire portion is swaged to a snap shackle.
These halyards are probably original to the boat, which would
make them over 30 years old. There is one nice really thing
about wire halyards-they last.

Most of the rope is protected from the elements by the mast
itself. However, the rope tails exposed to the weather turned
almost black. And the wire ends, in two cases didn't look so
good. Frankly it was embarrassing. They are wire and rope,
so I couldn't toss them in the washing machine. Plus I needed
a long messenger line to pull through behind them. I finally
spliced two shorter lines together and then sewed that on to the
tail of each halyard.

One end of the first halyard, Spinnaker 1, was terminated in a
thimble that I'd temporarily, three years ago, tied a shackle to
the end-the wire also had a few spurs, and the last 5 feet of
the cable looked horribly twisted--like John Kerry. Perhaps in
an emergency someone tied the wire in a bowline to something to
hoist it aboard which put a permanent bend in the wire strands.
I cut five feet off the end and swaged on the shackle with a new
thimble.

Next, I took it home with me and took a shower with the rope
portion. I hoped if I danced on the rope with the tub filled with
detergent it would clean up. It did, but not nearly enough, so I
then hand washed the dirty portion, using the dirtiest part, the tail
for a scrub brush. It would not be wise to scrub it with a material
harder than itself so using the tail end as a scrub brush worked well.
The dirtiest part needed the most scrubbing. By the time I worked
my way to the tail, that brush portion was fairly clean.

There is a proper, logical order to do things when restoring a boat.
Lord knows I have more important things to do on ECHO, like
wiring, but this stupid little task was one of the most satisfying job
I've done on the boat this year--because it eliminated an eyesore.

The second halyard, Spinnaker 2, unlike Spinnaker 1-- which
exited the mast on a sheave opposite the jib halyard, came out an
exit block and then went through an external block at the top of the
mast. Getting the spices, both the wire to rope, and rope to
messenger rope through the exit block was a hassle, and I almost
gave up thinking the two messenger line would part and I'd have to
fish the halyard back through. Luckily for me, smoothing out a few
hard spots in the splice did the trick. This halyard was even dirtier
and somewhat greasy too. It smelled like an old fish tank. I used
detergent, fabric softener and bleach which worked well as I didn't
have to scrub as much with this one.

I still have the jib and main halyards, and the topping lift yet to do. In
these cases the swaged ends look good so it is only a matter of
washing the ends. I may re-swage the ends with new thimbles just to
make the whole boat look consistent. Cost was $3.03 for the stainless
steel thimble and swage sleeve. I can afford another $9.09.

SPINNAKERS: At some point I have to go up the mast and fish a line
for a topping lift through the mast. No sign of where the foreguy was
attached. I guess the foreguy must have been run through a snatch
block at the bow toe rail. I don't have a spinnaker, but I'd like to have
all the cheap stuff done and ready to go for the day I do get a spinnaker.

I can get a brand new North Spinnaker, in a brand new turtle, with
Velcro closures for $1500, in exactly the right size for my boat! What a
deal! A new 1800 sq foot spinnaker should be $3500 up to $4500. At
that price I may be smart to get two. The fellow has two runners and a
reacher for sale. He also has a decent used one for $750. So my next
big purchase will be a kite and I may try to buy more than one. I want to
grab one of these new ones before someone else does.

TAMING THE MAIN: I dropped off my main at Quantum Sails to get
a "Dutchman System" put on it so I won't have to fight with flaking that
sail.

NEW BOOM: I've been thinking about getting a new boom for several
years. My friend Marty, who told me where I could find a used one in
"like new" condition. I can't believe my luck. Everything has been falling
into place for me-with the boat and in my personal life. I have never had
it so good.

The owner of this boom replaced with a better one -I suppose he bought
a lighter carbon boom, since this one is faultlessly perfect. The original
boat
has long ago been sold, and the boom has been sitting around with a rigger
for several years. The pin diameter is the same as the old boom, and the
length is only about 8 inches longer-I won't even need to cut it down. This
new one is already painted white, and I'll get it for less than the cost of
painting my old boom. It has three sheaves at the gooseneck, with space for
two more, and had four sheaves at the "Clue" end. That is enough for three
sets of reef lines, and the outhaul-all internal.

My gooseneck is floating, so I plan to fix that so I can add a rigid boom
vang. The new boom as fitting already installed for a vang, which my old
boom is missing. Perhaps I can get a vang from salvage down in Florida. All
the hurricanes must be making mincemeat of the yachts down there. All this
is coming together perfectly.

Bart