Lucky Boom

I wish I knew, and I probably should have asked the Bayfield news group before posting this, (because it might make me look stupid), but I would hate to ruin other peoples image of me, so here goes.

I was cleaning my workshop the other day, and there was a rope hanging off of my boom in the mezzanine that kept smacking me in the head every time I walked by. So I thought it would be a good time to get rid of the rope, since I had no idea what it was there for anyway. I pulled the boom down, started looking it over, and discovered that there are three sets of in-boom reefing lines for the mainsail. How exciting... I wasn't sure, and still am not sure whether that was a common feature for Bayfield boats, but it gives some idea of how the boat is to be used; it's a cruiser. The ironic thing is that the sails only came with 2 sets of reef points, so why there would be 3 available in the boom is beyond me. Luckily, my new sail has 3 sets of reef points; happy me.

The lines that were in the boom were rotted, too short, and looked liked they hadn't been used in many years.  How people can neglect the most important part of a sailboat is beyond me, (the sailing rig), but I like to have everything set up, whether I plan to use it or not. Our last boat was the same way, no reefing lines, no way to shorten sail, when we bought it of course. When we sold it, there were 2 reefs in the main, and a reef in the 100% jib.

So, I re-rigged the boom and left about 15' of line on either side so that I can set them up properly when it is installed next spring. Can't wait to try it out.