wrote in message ...

"Don White" writes:

"Capt. Neal®" wrote in message
...
Love the name of your boat. There is a town in the Keys with that name,
BTW.

What's your boom doing so low? Check the mast and look for an old, faded-
out black line. This should be where the boom is located. Chances are
somebody lowered the boom and increased the mainsail size. There is no
reason on that 32-footer why the boom is sweeping the cockpit at less
than head height.



looks like I'll have to do some usenet archaeology. I presume that the
first part of this posting is a reply to my own posting. Only I never
saw that reply even though I have read usenet at least twice a day
since I posted.

Anyway, I did not choose the name of my boat ('Tavernier') but I do
like it, too. And yes, I know that there is a community called
Tavernier in the Fla. Keys. I know very little of my boat's history
(bought her when she was 25 years old to the month) but there are some
indications that she spent a lot of time in Florida. If you really
want to know mo the island of Tavernier was probably named after
Bertrand Tavernier, a quite famous French guy who explored much of
Florida in the 1400s or 1500s. Literally, it translates to
'bartender' (someone who has a taverne).

Anyway, that's an interesting thought, that someone lowered the boom
to increase sail area. The PO was very much into racing and I could
see him doing this. Next time at the boat (this weekend, probably), I
will definitively look for a 'faded black line' or any other
indication that the boom was lowered. But wouldn't lowering the boom
leave a lot more physical evidence than a faded black line; like holes
in the mast where the gooseneck fitting was attached previously etc?

--Ernst


Depends on the gooseneck fitting. Mine is a sliding gooseneck that
can be raised or lowered at will. Oftentimes the gooseneck will
fit an internal track in the mast and although it may have been
riveted on to begin with it is a simple matter to drill out the rivets
and change the location while adding new rivets. This would leave
holes in the mast to show that it was done, however.

More likely is a mainsail cut to lower the boom on the aft end
by increasing the length of the leech on the mainsail. This would
result in the aft end of the boom being lower than the forward
end. The original sail held the boom horizontal, I'm sure.

I heard a different story about Tavernier. At one time it was
a busy port for exporting pineapples, hardwood, and vegetables.
There were several taverns available for the workers. Word got
out that there was always a tavern near the port . Then the Frenchies
came along and changed the spelling. Your explanation sounds
more plausible.

CN