March 2023 – week 3 round-up – Re-Stepping the Mast

Well here we are, week 3, and our big official progress towards being able to set sail in our boat is to get the new rigging attached to the mast, and the mast back up.

The week started with extreme winds. All the boats in the marina were bobbing around like corks in the water. We were working on the boat on Ralph's lounge conversion project while the wind howled and the flaps flapped, the lines slapped and anything that could rattle and creak did so with great gusto – and we haven't even started sailing yet! While I was on the boat I felt reasonably comfortable, soothed and rendered sleepy by the rocking of the boat. But once on land the ground began to sway beneath my feet, and my head began to spin. When this happens I have found the only thing to do is to crawl into a corner and wait for it to pass.

Luckily by Tuesday both my land sickness and the wind had temporarily subsided, and lo and behold! The riggers from Athens had arrived by plane. (I never did find out how they managed to bring the rigging with them because trust me it cannot have been in their hand luggage.) Their first job was to attach all the steel stays to the mast, while it was still on its side in the boatyard. In the meantime Ralph and I went round the boat battening hatches and doing other important nautical things.

We were told to be ready at 1pm to move the boat for the mast resetting. We waited on tenterhooks as 1 was pushed to 2.30, and 2.30 to 3, but we filled the gap profitably by taking the last chance to fit the remaining mast steps while the mast was still down, their possible positioning having only become clear after the stays had been placed. Fitting them involved a familiar pattern of steps: planning, measuring, drilling, testing, adjusting, sealing, some cursing, some cleaning up and, excitingly this time some riveting! I even did some rivets myself. All under time pressure.

After this excitement 3pm was pushed to 3.30pm...and the crane finally arrived at just before 4pm. The unlikely crane emerged from the back of a lorry and picked up the mast like an octopus emerging from under a rock and picking up a…chop stick. It was somewhat stressful to watch, as we were not sure if the octopus was up to the job, and in the picking-up process, the wind vane got knocked off the end of the mast. As the wind freshened in the late afternoon Opua was bobbing about in the dock while the crane dangled the mast over it and a rigger hung on to the bottom of the mast to steady it and place it on the base…it was like something out of a Charlie Chaplin film. But by about 5.30pm the basic parts were in place.  The final adjustments to the mast and stays were finished in the dark at about 10pm. The riggers nipped back on the plane, off to the next job.

Wednesday was devoted to post-mast-setting checks and further bouts of land sickness. By Thursday I was ready to face the world again. Amongst our highlights: we found an Aladdin’s Cave of a hardware store that Just Had Everything. We made further progress on the lounge-conversion project; we discovered a very comforting bean soup purported to be a national dish. And we moved all remaining gear on to the boat – including Ralph's extensive set of tools which will take pride of place down the guest side of the boat and which has already been the object of much admiration in the sailing community. We cannot store everything away yet as we still need access to certain parts of the boat behind cupboards and under beds, so Opua is looking a little untidy on the inside.

Next week it is off to the boat yard with Opua! If we want to visit her we will have to climb a ladder. We are still sail-less and slightly forlorn like a winter tree, but the mast is back up, and we have  some great strong new rigging to see us through the next 15 years!