Shakedown Breakdown

A forestay comes undone at the wrong time...

by BRIAN NAZINITSKY | Illustration JOSEPH BUCHANAN

Mid April had arrived and I was caught in the middle of household projects. I had managed to get all the gear back onto the boat, and now I needed an opportunity to take her out. Peptide sits on a trailer in the driveway, and at 16.5 feet she is very easy to get ready to sail; normally it takes 45 minutes from driveway to water, including raising the mast and bending on sails. Looking at my tide chart, Saturday would be perfect, and the predicted winds were about 10 knots. I invited along my friend Mike, an experienced sailor. The little voice inside said not to sail alone the first time out for the season.

At the ramp setup went smoothly; we raised the mast, hanked on the jib, set the main ready to hoist. We motored out of the Nissequogue River into Long Island Sound, and found the wind was gusty and the chop was fairly steep, two feet plus. I was glad Mike was along, as he hiked out a bit to help balance the boat. We took a good pounding on the beat out, about two miles into the sound, and then turned more to a reach, which calmed the motion of the boat. I had the tiller, and suddenly something felt not right. Was it a sudden lull? Had we snagged a lobster pot? The sails, looked trimmed, but the side stay was very slack on the windward side! I said to Mike “Something is wrong, the starboard shroud is slack.” I let the main out and Mike eased the jib sheet until the sail was almost flogging. With the boat stopped, however, the motion of the waves and chop had us bouncing, but my first thought was to stop the boat and find the problem. The mast appeared to be holding.

Mike supported the mast by standing on the companionway step and pushing forward and I checked out both side stays—which were secure and unbroken. However, the forestay had let go, and on closer inspection it was not broken but the quick pin which held it to the deck fitting was gone. A relief came over me, as nothing had broken and I had extra pins. As long as the rig was not falling, and Mike’s strength held we could be on our way again. I ducked into the cabin, found the extra pin and went forward to the bow. This should be easy, so I thought. I pulled on the forestay, but couldn’t get the pin in. There was just too much pressure. I decided to drop the jib hoping it would give me more slack. Wrong! Mike yelled “What happened? This just got very heavy!”

Not realizing it until it was too late, the wind pressure on the jib, and halyard tension was helping to keep the mast from falling aft. Holy cow now what? Mike is quite a bit taller and bigger than I am, so he suggested we switch places, and he might have the strength to pull the forestay and pin it. I moved into position, taking the weight of the mast while he went to the bow. After a minute or so he said “I’ll come back again. Go get a short length of line, not too heavy.” I went below again and cut the line from a fender. Mike took the line, and went forward while I held the mast again. I was not sure how he intended to use the line, but Mike is an engineer, so I had confidence he would figure something out. What he did was create some leverage, by wrapping the line through the fittings and pulling until the pin could fit through, almost like a block and tackle. We had the forestay pinned back just in time, as I had no more energy left to hold the mast, and even with the “pulley” system Mike was exhausted. Once secured, we relaxed and enjoyed about another hour before we caught the tide back into the river.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I’m glad I opted for an experienced friend rather than sail alone. The shakedown sail turned out to be a small “adventure” which could have been much worse had I sailed alone. I was glad I keep my cabin organized, and had some spare parts, which I easily found. I always carry a knife while aboard, and it saved time. We did not panic, and knew at worst together we could lower the mast and motor back. I now recommend everyone have an engineer friend who sails too! On the other hand, I shouldn’t have used a quick pin for such a vital fitting. I’m not sure if it was just not secured correctly or the pounding worked it loose. I now use a clevis pin which is secured with a hitch pin. Also, I needed to “think” a bit more, and analyze the forces on the rig and sails. Easing the jib halyard and dropping the jib was exactly opposite of what needed to be done. I did have the main sheet eased, so at least the rig was not being pulled aft. Thinking back, I could have uncleated the main halyard and brought it forward, pulling the mast up. That would have been easier than supporting the mast at the bottom. Lastly, with the boat stopped we drifted about. There were no other boats to be seen, but perhaps motoring slowly would have been more prudent, and we might have bounced around less. •SCA•

Brian has been sailing for about 30 years on a variety of small keelboats, rented, mostly on Long Island Sound, NY. In 2008 he finally purchased a Precision 165 and sails locally, usually solo, sometimes with family or friends.

As appeared in issue #86