After the stay is run up the mast and connected to the mast tang, the deck level attachment becomes the top priority. There are two ways to set up a stay:
- Stay to deadeye to chainplate
- Stay to deadeye to turnbuckle to chainplate
I have set up my old rigging via the first method, and this worked well but it was very time consuming. Each time I wanted to tension the stay, I needed to set up the purchase system. This took me a few hours each time I needed to tension the stays. While the system worked well, it was time consuming. In the interest of saving time, I decided to set up the check stays following method #2.
If you wish to have turnbuckles at the end your stays, I still recommend having a deadeye as it gives more flexibility when dealing with creep during the first phase of the dyneema lifecycle. Phase I is characterized by rapid elongation due to creep, which translates into weekly tensioning of the rigging. If you only have deadeyes, you will need to set up the whole assembly each time you need to tension the rigging. By connecting the deadeye to a turnbuckle, the deadeye can be tightened by hand and tied off, then further tensioned with the turnbuckle. Once the turnbuckle is two-blocked (fully closed; it relates to a pulley system when the two blocks are touching), simply open the turn buckle and take the slack out of the stay with the deadeye, then re-tension the turnbuckle.
If you are going to use turnbuckles permanently, the turnbuckle setup would include a double jaw turnbuckle. If you are only going to use the turnbuckle for a few weeks while you get through Phase I, then simply tying a hitch to the cut end of the stay will suffice.
Eventually, I will set the check stay up like all my other stays, using only deadeyes; so I cut the 1x19 cable close the the terminal fitting and tied the deadeye to the system.
The deadeye is simply hitched to the old stay on the turnbuckle with the upper part is assembled as normal. This allows me to tension the stay by simply turning the turnbuckle. Once the turnbuckle is two-blocked, it can be opened and the slack taken out of the system with the lashings, then to be re tightened with the turnbuckle.
Each time the stay feels bar tight, I heave hard on the stay (not really apparent in the video) to apply lateral tension to the stay. This will stretch the stay as it settles the splices. Even though I had hung the truck from the stay, I still had some constructional stretch left in the stay that was removed by this method.
When I began, the turnbuckles were completely open and the deadeye lashings were around 8 inches long. By the end, the deadeye and stay were two-blocked and the turnbuckle only has 1 inch remaining before it was also two-blocked.
Once all the fittings are two-blocked, I will shorten the hitch to the deadeye which will bring the distance down a few more inches. After everything is fully two-blocked and there is nothing left to tension down, I will return to the conventional method using only deadeyes. Even though the end step is the same, I did save a lot of time by holding onto the turnbuckles for a little while.
