Before everything went to hell I was looking closely at the head of the
furler -- had my binoc's out etc. Couldn't see the halyard wrapping.
After I dropped the sail and put it back up I tensioned it a bit extra
just to make sure that was not it - no help. Maybe it was the problem?
Furler has worked like a charm for last 2 summers - but last 2 weeks has
been catching on something - not sure what, but I couldn't see the
halyard wrapping.
Mark
There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval.
- George Santayana
On 2015-09-08 9:47 PM, Martin DeYoung via CnC-List wrote:
Dropped the jib - furler spun freely with no sail so I figured I was catching
something up top. Re-taped halyard and ran the jib back up to test - stuck
again part way out then all of a sudden it was raining small bearings...
Any chance a wrapped halyard put enough pressure on the top spring clip?
Calypso's Harken furler would act like it was jammed when the halyard used to
occasionally wrap around the top of the extrusion. I adjusted the sail hoist
slightly to shorten the amount of exposed halyard and eliminated the wrap
issues.
Martin DeYoung
Calypso
1971 C&C 43
Seattle
-----Original Message-----
From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of Dr. Mark
Bodnar via CnC-List
Sent: Monday, September 07, 2015 9:17 PM
To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com
Cc: Dr. Mark Bodnar
Subject: Stus-List Harken roller furler failure
Had a catastrophic failure of my Harken roller furler today.
Last 3 times out the furler has been sticking a bit - thought it got better
with tightening my backstay, but then same problem again.
Dropped the jib - furler spun freely with no sail so I figured I was catching
something up top. Re-taped halyard and ran the jib back up to test - stuck
again part way out then all of a sudden it was raining small bearings!!!! - And
no I didn't reef on it or winch it - I was just tugging it looking to see where
is was catching and it let go.
Sail dropped with half the top furling mechanism - left the halyard up top with
the other half of the mechanism.
I've not gone up the mast yet to rescue the remaining parts and halyard
- but I'm pretty sure that there was a top spring clip that let go - when it popped
out the whole top swivel set just sprayed everywhere. I rescued a few of the
bearings - light brown, plastic, 3/8" (9.58mm) -- I think all the other parts
ring the furler and therefore can't disappear.
So the big question - can I buy new bearings and a spring clip and rebuild the
swivel in place (assuming that it was the spring clip that failed). I'm hoping
I don't need to kick for a whole new furler.
Replacing the whole top swivel would be a pain as I'd have to dismantle the
furler and the forestay to get the old one off and replaced.
Sorry I didn't get any pic's - was dark on return to the dock and I forgot.
Still had a great sail today - left the dock at 11:30am --- back to the dock at
11pm. First time coming back in the dark! Stars out, phosphorecent sparkles in
the water. And a clean docking!
Mark
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