Re-Rigging a sailboat? Don’t forget the chainplates and the tangs…but wait..there is more…

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Are you re-rigging your sailboat? I always smile when someone says they have recently redone all their rigging. That means the wire rigging, maybe even the staylock or Norseman fittings and swages, right? Maybe they even had a world renown and/or highly recommended professional rigger do it all, for complete piece of mind…I once felt that way when we did all of our rigging in New Zealand a few years ago while sailing around the world.

After we lost our mast in the Pacific (2011), just 3 years after replacing the rigging in New Zealand (2008) I learned that re-rigging a sailboat is much more than replacing the wires, and the fittings. Possibly more important than the critical wire and fittings, is what they are attached to at the bottom: the chainplates…and at the top of the rigging…the tangs that secure it all to the mast. Since our dismasting Patrick and I have worked hard to inform other sailors that chainplates can break, and not just where they pass through the deck with no oxygen. When one “rerigs” their boat, they need to be thinking from the condition of the mast and the tangs, right down to the chainplates.

Article about our dismasting

Recently after some other dismastings of sailboats, I now realize that its equally important to consider WHAT those chain plates are attached to! If your new rigging is all attached to rotten or slowly rotting bulkheads because the chainplates leak on occasion, well, why bother with the expense of new rigging, and new titanium chainplates? This would be like tying a rope swing to a twig. Eventually, the twig will crack, and the best titanium ropes will just fall down, bringing everything else down that’s attached, with your life in its branches.

This is part 2 of this video series. In part 1, Patrick shows how he repairs the bulkhead, rebuilds everything, and makes sure that is very strong, so it can continue to support the chainplates that hold up the rigging, that hold up the mast. He also tells you about using titanium on a sailboat, and why we used titanium rather than stainless steel chainplates. It’s been 8 years with those chainplates. It seems like yesterday. I’m so glad we don’t have to start worrying about them again in a few years!

Then in Part 2, Patrick shows how he modifies the hole that the titanium Chainplate passes through the deck through. He puts down plastic laminate to redirect any water that may ever find its way through that hole, to run on top of the Formica rather than under, and in to the wood.

And the Formica serves another purpose…to make our 43 year old Valiant 40 look young and beautiful again!

Be sure to watch both videos if you want to see the entire project.

Part 1 -Fixing the Rotting Bulkhead, and Why we Used Titanium Chainplates

https://youtu.be/nvhBiWiPaw0

Part 2: Putting it all back together again, and making it Beautiful!

https://youtu.be/JHBvkCa6lzI

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Whale Strike on a Sailboat -What If you hit a whale while sailing??

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It is actually extremely rare that a whale intentionally sinks a sailboat. But an accidental collision with a whale can leave a sailboat damaged and cause the loss of its rudder. It does seem though, that there is an increase in incidences of sailboats hitting whales. Part of that reason could be due to conservation measures and the increased numbers of whales but also, the increased numbers of sailboats passing through whale territory.

So why don’t whales just get out of the way, whether a ship or sailboat. There is speculation that whales, being the biggest thing in the ocean, they grow up never having to change course for anything. They just don’t know to move. Our collision with the young humpback whale, at the beginning of this video, is a very good example of that. That whale could have easily avoided us, but it chose not to. That might have been a very good learning experience for the young whale, that not all large, rounded things in the ocean are as soft and friendly as mother. That learning experience, just might save its life one day.

One would think that a whale should hear the approach of a sailboat. Apparently, it is a very noisy ocean down there and becoming more noisy with the increase of ships, fishing boats and all sorts of surface craft, but also, military submarines. Maybe, in some extremely noisy areas close to civilization, the whale might not hear the vessel coming. However it could be well worth while, for a sailboat in whale territory, to create noise by playing the stereo, which can be heard through the hull, turn on the depth sounder, especially one of the new Raymarine depth sounders that uses a sweep of frequencies, not just the standard 50 or 200kz, or even turn on the engine. A diesel engine is very noisy, underwater.

When in whale territory, it would be good to slow down. In some whale feeding areas, ships are restricted to a speed of no more than 10 knots. Many sailboats would be fortunate to go that fast but the slower the better to give whales, and the sailboat, more opportunity to avoid each other.  

Know before you sail, if your boat will be in a whale traffic area, subscribe to whale alerts for your particular area. Unfortunately these are concentrated in the USA, but a google for something like “Whale Tracking In South Africa” should give you some information to be aware of.

Try to travel during the day, so you can see whales on the surface better. Some whale species spend a lot of time at night, resting on the surface.

Finally, as if all that wasn’t bad enough, in their migrations, and search for food, many whales spend much of their lives in precisely those waters that are the most dangerous for them, often frequenting both commercial shipping lanes and recreational hot spots, taking the same route that migrating cruisers follow.

So keep a good lookout. Make a lot of noise, and try not to hit any whales, OK?

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