overhead. Pinholes and tears will be obvious as light shines through them. Use something, such a blue tape, to mark any areas that need repair. Don’t do what we did and forget

to inspect the dodger! We thought we had covered everything, but blew out a dodger window the first day out of Mexico, thanks to stitching damaged from just two years of sun. It would have been easy to reinforce at the dock before our departure.

Inspect hardware

Most sail hardware (rings,

grommets, slides, etc.) serves to transfer the loads in the sail to the rig and hull. They are subject to tremendous shock loading as well as wear. Check rings and grommets for deformation or combing (tearing) away from original placement. If damage is found, these must be replaced. Also, inspect the condition of webbing straps that reinforce pressed-in rings and secure external rings. If the straps are loose, hand-sewing around the perimeter will tighten them. Chafed webbing should be replaced. Check the webbing stitching for UV damage.

Mainsail slugs or slides at the luff

or foot of a sail need to be inspected individually. Plastic slides degrade in sunlight and will show a chalky, rough, or worn surface if damaged. Metal slides can bind. It’s best to have metal slides at the head and above each luff reef point. With luff hardware, when one slide breaks it can cause overloading on its neighbors, resulting in a domino effect failure. For hanks, inspect for signs of wear and smooth operation. Replace or lubricate as needed. Inspect the leech line for wear,

especially at the cleats. Leech lines are easy to replace before they break, but not after breaking. They do fail and I’m sure we’d slowly go insane if we had to go 1,000 miles listening to incessant leech flutter. A good cruising sail has a leech line tied to a webbing loop at the head so when replacement is needed, you simply pull the new cord through and tie it off. Battens, whether full length or

otherwise, can cause a lot of chafe in their pockets and the sail. Inspect battens for structural problems; replace any cracked or broken battens. Use fine sandpaper to correct sharp or rough

edges and ends. Batten pocket ends are prone to failure and can lead to the batten being “ejected” if the mainsail is flogging. Lastly, inspect full batten hardware at the luff and leech ends. Plastic hardware can degrade in UV. Metal is more robust, but be sure that the hardware at the luff end does not chafe against the mast when going downwind; this can quickly cut a groove into an aluminum mast. So now, when you bring your sails

into Salty Sails, you can tell old Salty himself what you’ve found. Tell him there’s chafe from the shrouds on the batten pockets, UV damaged thread on the UV cover, and that the corner patches are too small, proving that the sailmaker wasn’t worth his salt. Evaluating our sails on Totem in

Mexico pointed out a number of areas for simple repair and improvement. Many of them were easy to fix, and a few benefitted from Jamie’s sailmaking skills, but they were all important to our pre-departure readiness.

This month, “Totem” is in

the Marquesas, resting after their Pacific crossing. Follow along at: www.sv-totem.com

NORSTAR 40

DESIGNER: ROBERT H. PERRY built in Bellingham, WA

Master ocean voyaging, with instruction, in the South Pacific aboard Mahina Tiare III, a Hallberg-Rassy 46.

HEAD TURNING GOOD LOOKS LUXURIOUS INTERIORS SOLID SAFE PERFORMANCE

offshore cruising yachts !Norstar 40 !Norstar 44 !Norstar 46rs

With a combined experience of 526,000

miles and 67 years, John and Amanda Neal’s curriculum offers you a unique hands-on learning experience.

www.mahina.com • 360.378.6131

NORSTAR YACHTS

NORSTARYACHTS.COM SALES@NORSTARYAChTS.COM 360 223-2399

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