Short List

There are just a few items left on the "must do" list before we depart. Tomorrow we will drop the mainsail, remove the boom, and pull the gooseneck out to replace the mainsail furler drive. This electric motor failed at the beginning of this season, and it's an important system to have. With the electric drive working, we can take in the mainsail or reef it from the cockpit by pushing a button. Without it, we have to send someone to the mast to wind it in manually. It's not too hard, but imagine doing it on a rough day, or worse, at night in a building breeze. So, it's worthwhile to get this working.

The next, and really final safety task, is to inspect the rig from top to bottom. I'll go to the top of the mast and take a look at each and every fitting on the mast, looking for any anomalies, like missing cotter pins, or any cracked fittings. I don't expect any issues, but it's an important practice to check everything before going offshore. I've heard many stories of disasters averted by a simple inspection. And, I've heard the other stories, of disasters at sea caused by a single failed piece of hardware. I always say that I want to be at least two failures away from disaster!