On Mon, 13 Aug 2007 03:42:13 GMT, cavelamb himself
wrote:

wrote:


The statement is simply an "out" for the surveyor. It means that he
didn't inspect the rigging.

Having said that, have a good friend who is a Lloyd's Inspector and
does frequent inspection of VLCC, etc., usually to determine what
repairs will be required to have the vessel pass class inspection,
whether for sale or modification, repair, etc..

He inspects the hull, tanks, piping and valves, tank venting, steering
gear, in short the mechanical portion of the ship. He does not inspect
the electronics or radios.

So, it is not unusual, in the commercial world, for a surveyor to
inspect only certain portions of a vessel. However -- when you
contract with Lloyd's for a survey you will sign a contract that
specify in excruciating detail exactly what they will inspect for.

To answer you question though, yes, if the boat is close to ten years
old I would have the rigging inspected.

Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom)


27 years old.
(and we so dreaded 1984 coming! Has it been that long already?)

I think it just needs to be replaced.

Say, is thee a Lloyd's of Texas???

No the Lloyd's I was referring to was Lloyd's of London,, in this case
a ship classification and certifying company.

It seems like the general advise is to change stainless rigging every
ten years but I'm inclined to believe that is more of a local legend
then anything else. I have personally seen USAF aircraft with current
inspections that had brass safety wire on the turnbuckles, a practice
that had been abandoned by the Air Force more then twenty years ago.,
so it is possible that the wire itself is not the problem.

If I were worried about the rigging then I'd either hire a reputable
guy to inspect it or at the very least get some good cleaner and the
strongest magnifying glass you can find and clean the lower terminals
and examine them. Usually the lower terminals tend to fail before
uppers as they are usually pretty well soaked with seawater most of
the time. If you see any crack in the lower terminals, no matter how
small, it is time to replace the rigging.

My personal advise would be to pull the mast and lay it down as there
is more to rigging then just cables. I've seen mast head fittings
cracked, through bolts holding the lower stay plates ready to break, a
welded on spinnaker boom lift bracket cracked and ready to fall off.

Also, while the mast is down you can check the internal wiring and
make sure that is in good shape and that the conduit is still riveted
in .

Re mast steps recommended by another poster. If you can afford the
kind that fold into the mast then by all means install them but if you
are contemplating the big triangular stirrups that are riveted to the
outside of the mast then consider -- you will need to rig some sort of
lacing to prevent lines from getting wrapped around the steps -- they
are easy to run up and down but a real pain in the neck. I know, I've
got 'em on my boat.


Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom)