Eye splices are handy but what if you want to make your Dyneema line longer?
Check out this video where I show you how to easily carry out an end to end splice.
How to Make a Dyneema Grommet
A rope ring is called a grommet and they are incredibly useful on a sailboat! Anything you need to connect or attach can be easily setup using a grommet. Once you have a few of them you will soon find uses for them and then need even more grommets for other uses you have found around the boat!
I use this very same technique to make the deadeyes that hold up our synthetic standing rigging. This grommet, made with a Möbius Brummell Splice is incredibly strong and will stand up to whatever challenges you can throw at it!
Finding Crevice Corrosion
Our staysail setup involves three stays:
the inner forestay
two check stays
All of these stays attach 2/3rds up the mast, between the spreader and the cap shrouds. They kind of serve the purpose of a second spreader in terms of mast rigidity as it is a second attachment point, but without the added complexity of intermediate stays.
When we sail in heavy weather, we reef down to this point on the mast by flying only our staysail and double reefed mainsail. This keeps the forces lower on the mast and closer to the center of the boat, providing us with a balanced sail plan and comfort in uncomfortable times.
Having synthetic standing rigging means that our stays are immune to corrosion problems. Most of the end fittings that connect our stay to the mast are bronze, but these three toggles to the inner forestay area were all stainless steel.
Can you spot the crevice corrosion?
I spotted this flaw in the Azores right before we were leaving during my routine aloft inspection of the rig. We decided to go because in the Azores, everything is Metric and trying to get Imperial sizes there is a nightmare!
The corrosion was in the length of the metal, not across it. This meant that it was weakened but not completely broken.
We sailed on with the stress on mind that our toggles could fail and sailed about 1800 miles to reach mainland Portugal, where we soon hopped on a plane to fly back to the states to visit family.
The plan was to bring easy to buy bronze toggles back with us from the States rather than to mess with all the red tape to import “yacht parts” into Portugal.
The Best Inhibitor of Galvanic Corrosion
In the world of advanced chemical compounds, it seems that the best solution to a simple problem like galvanic corrosion would be a synthetic concoction. The truth is, all modern chemicals are compared to the best solution to the problem: lanolin.
Lanolin, sold as Lanocote, is removed from sheep’s wool. The lanolin is separated from the wool and bottled up into small jars. This agent is natural and safe to use without gloves, and will not react with your skin!
It works great at keeping water out and dissimilar metals separated which then prevents any galvanic issues.
I personally use this anytime I have bronze and stainless steel touching, and an extra thick layer anytime I am mixing stainless fasteners with aluminum fittings. If you don’t use lanolin, or one of the other more expensive materials, you will quickly see bubbles form in the aluminum adjacent to the stainless steel fastener.
Lanolin is easy to use and good to keep in the boat. Best of all, it lasts a long time. I have been dipping into my same pot for the past 5 years and it is still full enough that I don’t need to think about buying more of it anytime soon!
Masthead Vs. Fractional Rigs
The main distinction between these two popular rigs is how far up does the headstay go?
To the top: Masthead
Part of the way up: Fractional
Fractional rigs offer a smaller headsail luff but a much more adjustable mast. Since the headstay doesn’t meet the backstay at the head of the mast, the section between the two stays acts as a lever which can effectively bend the mast to tune the sails. All this equates to much higher performance from the boat.
Typically, fractional rigs are seen on racing boats while mast head rigs are seen on slower cruising boats.
