On our passage from Crescent City to Eureka we broke 4 more sail slides in conditions that was a bit rough but not too bad; 10 to 20 knots of wind with steep seas of 6" to 10". I've been in much, much worse conditions without braking any batten slides on other boats. I say Whisky Tango Foxtrot to that. I think a couple of things might be at play. Thing #1, I noticed that the spare part we had on board was a "C" revision of the base design part number and the replacement parts that we had shipped in to our last port were a revision "S". That's are a whole lot of design revisions between C & S. That tells me something not-so-good was up with that design. Thing #2, I noticed that there seemed to be and an excessive gap between the face surface of the sail track and the feet of the sail slide and and another excessive gap between the web of the sail slide and the sides of the sail track. To me that says that the slides could have been stronger in the web and that the slides were not "grounding" the compressive batten loads into the mast thus putting an bending moment (load) into the already undersized web. Long story short, those slides were probably not the best fit for out mast track.
Bev in her wanderings about the docks heard that there was a guy running a small sail repair shop in back of the marina. We checked him out, sweet guy, in his 80's, works 4 hours a day doing small sail & canvas repairs and playing cribbage, years of sail repair experience We told him our problem and he suggested a slide from another manufacture, Challenge Sailcloth. Bev photographed the pertinent pages from the parts catalogue and back at the boat I did the math. Bev also played him in a game of cribbage. It looked like they did have a slide that would be much stronger (thicker web) and fit better (roller slides that wold ground their loads to the mast). Because they are from another manufacture/different design I'll have to so some minor modification so they will fit our track but they might just be the magic cookies that gets us out of batten slide hell. Fingers crossed. So we ordered one, I'll make the modifications to it and then see how well it fits. If it looks as good in real life as it does in on paper we'll order a full set plus spares and be on our way. Fingers crossed and touch wood...
In the mean time we've been exploring the charming town of Eureka CA and enjoying the marina where we're docked; Woodley Island Marina, a super nice staff and the cheapest dockage rates on the west coast. We've berthed on slip behind the big Cost Guard ship on the right side of the photo below.
The the town, which is across the river from us has a wonderful museum of local history, The Clarke Historical Museum, that is heavy on local Native American history. Our folding bikes have been a big help to us here.
There are lots of interesting and beautiful boats in the marina both large and small, sail and power.
“I believe much trouble would be saved if we opened our hearts more.”
-- Chief Joseph
This beautiful fishing vessel invokes Jacques-Yves Cousteau's (French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher) research vessel. Calypso was the name of Cousteau beloved oceanographic research vessel. That man, his ship and crew inspired a love and awe of the oceans in many of us.
"Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans."
"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever."
Jacques Cousteau
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