Rebuild swivels as Zeta rained on us all day

Thursday 29 Oct, HHN, boat winterizing day 29:
I wake to the sound of rain outside, kill the alarm and go back to sleep till 9am. Naughty, I know. But it’s just too cozy to get out of bed! Having caused havoc in Louisiana, Zeta is now upon us in Maryland, and it rains ALL day till early evening. Heavy rain. A previously empty bucket outside ends up with 5” (12cm) of rainwater in it. I only go outside for my daily basic essential, the ritual morning ablution-run to the bathroom, and get soaked in the process.

I spend the day is in the workshop on the aft deck, listening to heavy rock rain music drumming on the plastic tent. I rebuild both the lower and the top swivels for the mainsail furlex. All went well until I started to demonstrate to the video camera how clever I was with putting the lower swivel back together, when I slipped and all the ball bearings scattered everywhere, mocking me as they did so. That will be a funny one for the edited video …. especially my unrestrained reaction. It will be an “after 8pm viewing” only.

I also decide I’d better grease up the furling motor parts, so they don’t go rusty while I wait on new parts from Selden (as it looks like it will be a loooong wait). I then realise that for the horizontal section of the gearbox (motor and worm gear) I can put the assembly together with only the covers waiting on new seals. So, I get all 3 systems greased up to do just that, but I only get the genoa one completely rebuilt and packed with grease before it starts to get dark.
I’m quite happy with myself really. Selden and several others had frightened me off from touching these systems. But now that I’ve successfully serviced all 3, I think I could almost do it again with my eyes closed. Or at least, confidently in some remote corner of an ocean. I heard that the guys who race in the Vendee Globe (single handed around the world race) all make certain they know how each and every system on their yachts comes apart and goes back together again. And I doubt very much that you could win such a race without this knowledge. In the oceans, they are totally alone and any physical assistance would be a disqualification. That said, they do have decent satellite phones and skilled backup teams – unlike the 1st around the world race in 1969 when most didn’t even have a working radio. But then, with only a sextant, compass and trailing log, there weren’t many “systems” to go wrong.

Really not sure where the day went today. Oh, maybe only getting up at 9am didn’t help! During the evening, the cold front starts to come through and the outside temperature drops. For once, after dinner I spend a cozy evening watching a movie. I’m feeling quite content now that I’ve turned the corner and am into the rebuild stage of things. It feels so much more constructive and motivating than tearing parts and discovering problems day in and day out.