Cruising Helmsman - July 2018

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Cruising Helmsman July 2018

above, or can you see gaps? Is the foil track

straight or twisted?

Check the boom gooseneck for wear, the

sheaves at both ends for damage and then

look under the boom. Current production

boat rigs often suffer from corrosion

under the stainless steel sheet and vang

takeoffs that fit into a track on the bottom

of the boom.

Check anywhere you see dissimilar

metals, especially stainless on aluminium,

for corrosion or evidence that anti-

corrosion paste was used on assembly.

I have already written about DIY rig

checking (CH September and October

2013, or go to mysailing.com.au and

search for: ‘on deck ’ and ‘aloft’).

On deck you can check the condition and

attachment points of lifelines and stanchions,

pulpit and pushpit, chainplates and mast

step, as well as the size and security of

any mooring cleats. Do the winches turn

freely? How long since the last service?

SAILS

Comes with fifteen bags of sails? You

can bet most of them are old and have

been replaced.

The sales brochure expression ‘x bags

of sails’ shows you have a lazy and old

fashioned broker who has not bothered

to find out what is in those bags. These

fossils are also likely to refer to the

forward cabin as the fo’c’s’le, as if yachts

still have a stowage area forward for

those fifteen bags of sails!

Ask to have the mainsail hoisted, or at

least released from its cover. You may not

be able to judge its shape, but if the cloth

feels brittle it is probably replacement

time. With sails it is not so much their

age, as how much use and UV exposure

they have had.

Most owners will not want you poking

a sail needle into their sails, but this is

one way to find out if the cloth is brittle.

TIMING YOUR SURVEY

The best times of day to really see

defects, repairs, mismatched paint and

other imperfections are early morning

and late afternoon, when the sun is low.

You are unlikely to obtain access at

sunrise, so try to schedule your pre-

survey assessment for late afternoon.

This is also the best time for the actual

survey, should you go ahead with one.

While you will probably be at the

mercy of the yard’s timetable and will

not be able to have the boat hauled for

a survey first or last thing, low light is

also the best way to see irregularities

on the boat’s bottom. Blisters will

cast a shadow, making them far more

obvious than in bright sunshine.

Another way to detect problems

underneath is to get right under the

boat and look towards the light.

PRACTICAL

MAINTENANCE

A good first

impression –

soft padding to

prevent chafe

from fender lines.