Journal - 2nd Jib, Decks, Teak

	Inner (2nd) Jib, Paint Decks, Eyebrows, Hand Rails.

	Over the period of 2009 I did two major projects on Mouse Pad... Installed a second (Inner) jib and painted the decks.And a few minor changes… remove the teak eyebrows, and hand rails.

	First I installed a second inner jib using the original Mariner hank-on furling system. It was not long before I realized that it was too old and could not reef the sail on it. I also came to the conclusion that the deck fitting I had installed was not going to support the stresses and strains without additional support below deck. (see Double Head Sails)

	Why the 2nd Jib? Well that is an easy question to answer if you have ever done any long term cruising you'ld know what I mean. During Cruise '97 we had to change head sails serval times a day, or sometimes per hour, it was hard on everything and to have to go out on deck in the middle of the night when you are supposed to be asleep and go full force with the deck heaving around and the waves crashing over the decks. You would be tired of it too. Then what to do with all those extra sails? I found elaborate but simple ways of keeping as many as possible on deck, up to five sails at one time (four on the life lines and one hanked on) rolled up and bingied to the life lines on the foredeck. Kind of forboding but worth the extra effort over flaking and packing in banana bags then storing down below in the 1/4 berth. I had no idea if two jib and rigs could be supported and didn't even think about it till one day an 80ft sail boat pulled into the anchorage at Taiohae, Marquases and low and behold she had this rig with two jibs perminently attttached and rigged with their own roller furling systems. I realised then that I had to figure out a way to get this rig on Mouse Pad. This meant that I can now go sailing on my own more easily and withour fear of sail change time! I can now fly my 145% in light aires and when needed reef it in to a 110%, when that sail becames overloaded it can be furled away completely. Then unfurl the inner, 100%, jib which in turn can be reefed down to about 60% or strom sail size when wind loads prevail. All this from the comfort and safety behind the dodger in the cockpit. Each of the jib sails have been modified by North Sails to include rope luff's for reefing so the sail doesn't loose shape or power.

	I looked around and at first decided to purchase another Pro-Furl system, but after a bit of research noticed that the prices had gone up considerably and was almost out of reach. So I started to research different reefing/furling systems and came across the Furlex system. I was looking around for a decent price on the net and was talking to a local rigger about it when he told me of a local surveyor who was changing his furling system and had a Furlex 200 system for sail. I asked him to check out the system as to its condition with respect to installing it as the inner furler on Mouse Pad. It was in great condition and would only need a good cleaning and servicing and of course and additional tube section. So I bought the Furlex for $500 and a couple of hundred for new fittings and extension I had an excellent new inner job furling/reefing system.

	I had North Sails look over the 120% jib and had it cut down and the hanks remove and a new tape line sewn on for another $300 and I was in business… well almost!

	The general consensus was that the deck plate I installed was not going to be strong enough for the jib. Remember this jib was going to work under the stresses and strains as a 100% reefed down to 60% or storm jib sizes and weather conditions. Therefore the deck plate supporting it also had to take the same stresses and strains without pulling the deck apart. I worked with a local boat worker and we came up with a much more desirable and stronger system. We used the same deck plate, but added a stainless steel strap under the deck that extended through the chain locker and attached to plate which was installed on the opposite side outside the hull on the point of the bow. It turned out to fit exactly below the original retaining strap for the main jib. This would now give all the support and strength needed to sail any weather condition I might get myself into. Of course my saying is that with modern technology and weather forecasting that “if there is a storm I shouldn’t be there”!

	All this work took about 3 months to complete from design through fabrication and installation of all the parts and re-painting the deck. And of course it wouldn’t be a boat if it didn’t unearth several other projects along the way. The first obstacle and change was that the original deck plate I had installed was not centered on the boat, it turned out that the main factory jib plate was not installed along the center line either, but was much closer than my inner plate was. So that had to be moved and re-bedded etc. The next obstacle was that the chain path from the windless to the bow roller didn’t line up either and was now hitting the inner jib plate. Removing and replacing the chain lock block was not a bit problem and took only a day to fix. But then came the biggest obstacle that of the feed from the windless was now coming off the wrong side and the deck plate for the windless had to be reversed. Again after long thought and discussion a simple solution was found reverse the windless feed. To do this we removed the windless capstan and cats paw, the teak plate protecting the deck, which housed the deck feed hole, filled the old port side feed hole and flipped the teak plate over. This now moved the chain feed hole to starboard. We drilled a new hole sealed the teak plate back down and instead of varnishing the teak plate I decided to epoxy and painted it white to match the new deck paint. Then re-install the cats paw and capstan and clean it up, now it looks like new and works great.

	Second: was to re-paint the entire cockpit and deck with new non-skid paint and waterways. After lots of research and checking around on the best method of painting non-skid. I had never been impressed with the old method of painting then spreading sand, brushing the excess sand off and repainting, and even on the best jobs looked bad. I finally came across a new product from Interlux. It was a non-skid deck paint with the sand already mixed in. I tried it on a small section in the cockpit and fell in love with not only with the grip but the fact that the old burlap finish showed through and from just one foot away you could not see the sand, but what a grip… WOW it was great. It came in a nice light grey which matched the logo perfectly. So it was a go for the decks. There was a lag of about 3 months between the first test of the paint and getting the money together to do the entire deck. Little did I, or the excellent painter I hired, know that Interlux in there infinite wisdom changed the grey color to a much darker shade until we came to do the job. So here was the rub, obstacle, do we create a custom color by buying white and adding a drop or two of black to create our own grey OR use their shade? I decided for future touch ups to go with the Interlux shade which would make touch ups much easier to match to than anything we create. Therefore the entire cockpit had to be repainted along with the rest of the deck. Not an expense I needed nor wanted but there was no choice. That’s what having a boat is all about! (see Non-Skid)

	Lastly came the removal of the eyebrows, actually it was done before the deck was painted. There is no functional reason for eyebrows on a glass-fiber boat anyway, it is a left over from the old wooden boat design with poor port whole seals and was there originally to help move the water away from the port wholes. It does have a nice cosmetic value but since I was trying to clean up the lines of Mouse Pad and give her a more modern look, away they went. At the same time I decided that I was very tired of varnishing the damned teak hand rails running the entire length of the deck and into the cockpit. With a full dodger installed the small (three foot) hand rails under the cockpit were more of a hindrance than a help, so off they came. And I was starting to think that the small drip I was getting over the galley was a result of one of the retaining bolt to the starboard hand rains leaking, so off they came too. Now the deck was much cleaner and more modern looking. I have ordered two forty inch stainless steel hand (grab) rails. One to be installed either side of the cabin top just in front of the two new hatches In installed last year. They are an easy reach from the dodger and give all the length of grip needed to move safely around the deck. Of course whenever you are on deck you should have your safety line attached and hooked onto your Jack line regardless of any hand rail location. (see Eyebrows and Hand (grab) rails)