Working for Speed Merchant

Since mid-November, we have had almost nothing to do at Speed Merchant Serviced, until mid-December. Brian hurt his back and I was leaving to go home for the holidays, so of course the orders started flooding in. The most pressing was a re-rig on a J/29, which had been bought locally by a man from Jamaica and he wanted it fixed up before sailing to Kingston. Unfortunately, Brian and I were both leaving for the holidays, so with the help of Jed, we measured the boat for the new shrouds and made a list off all the parts that would need to be replaced.

While working for Speed Merchant Services has cut into my time to work on and sail my own boat, I am earning money, gaining valuable experience, and have ordered a bunch of new deck hardware to make sailing Furthur easier.

Here are photos of the completed worked with a description of what we did:

The old traveler was the original from the boat's construction and wasn't running smoothly. We replaced it with a new section of Harken track and captive ball-bearing traveler car.

We upgraded the outhaul with new internal blocks and high-tech lines for a purchase of 8:1 over the old 3:1 system. Also, there was no reefing system, so we ran a reef line and installed a cam cleat on the boom.

The vang was only 3:1 and used old blocks, so it was upgraded to 8:1 Harken Mid-Range Bullet and high strength blocks. A boom kicker was added to support the boom without the mainsail up or while reefing.

The old turnbuckles were pitted, which could lead to cracking and failure, so the standing rigging and forestay were replaced. We did this without removing the mast, so I was hoisted to each shroud attachment point and replaced the old shrouds with new ones, section by section. It was a little nerve-wracking at first, but the mast is pretty stout and the load of my weight nothing compared to sailing.

The foreguy was moved forward, its purchase increased to 2:1, and lead to each side of the cockpit.

The checkstay blocks were missing, so new Harken blocks with cams were ordered and installed on 1 1/4" cars to fit the toe rails. The lines used are Dyneema, a high-tech line with very little stretch. Brian tapered the cover to reduce weight, windage and friction on the blocks, while keeping the cover on the handled part of the line to reduce chafe.

The finished project, ready to go to Jamaica with her new owner.