hi Don,
interesting what you say about having your main converted to slides...
i assume this means sliding cars right? Most of the bigger boats i've
been on had this system as well, and it was sure a lot easier to hoist,
plus the advantage of being able to leave the sail and boom attached to
the mast when dropped and just tie the sail off with some ties. Im
guessing you probably had the sails re-cut at the same time, but do you
think it cost much to have the slides added? As an aside, did you
notice any difference in sailing performance with the slides compared
to the bolt rope system, positive or otherwise?

As far as hail storms go - ouch! We have about one of these a year in
sydney and it seems every 2 or 3 years we get a pretty big one that
makes insurance companies unhappy... Im hoping to not be more than
about 10 miles offshore at any time, though if i go really far north
i'll probably take the common route of sticking to islands to avoid
crocodiles. My wetsuit wont help me much if i bump into one of these
hungry lizards ;-)

Shaun