December 29, 2013

Heavy jibe snaps my boom off the mast


 The gooseneck connection linking the boom to the mast finally busted during an abrupt jibe on a 25 kph sailing day while heading back into the Mission Bay jetty. No one was hurt.

storm breaks bool
The cotter pin holding the boom to the mast snapped...
      The hard part of this fix was removing the galvanized steel plate from the front of the boom. This plate had clearly never been removed in 38 years (the steel bolts had weather welded to the steel plate). Once removed (by drilling out the bolts), I could see that the cotter pin holding the gooseneck connector in the boom had snapped.
   So, a relatively easy fix.
   It could have been much worse.

Catalina Island trip


Sailing down the leeward coast of Catalina Island
 Hand speared rockfish and opaleye


This Angel Shark fed many people for many days.

Diving the Point Loma kelp beds.