The Back Story

March 21, 2008




Help Identify this mast fitting

This fitting is for the fixed intermediate backstay tang on our mast. It's for a swaged wire end (of some sort - maybe a T, maybe a stem ball?). It's not rod rigging. It sort of looks like Navtec's K200 external stemball tang?


Anyway I want to change the mast fitting to something like a Navtec rope eye below for proper Spectra running backstays. Something with more articulation than this fitting, so I can take the runners aft. Right now this will bind if it's more than a few degrees past mast centerline.



March 8, 2008

Travis 1996-2008

Mexico, Christmas 1996-

In April we added a furry orange creature called Travis to our crew. We got him from a local corner store with way too many cats, dogs, and pet chickens. He managed his first trip to the nearby cruising islands pretty good but I think he was feeling seasick the second day. He is growing big and strong after recovering from malnutrition and other ailments, reaching a startling 15 lbs at 9 months. In response to his varied escapades we dubbed him "Adventure Cat!". As in "Adventure Cat! swims shark infested waters while chasing killer moths!", "Adventure Cat! ripped my flesh!", "Adventure Cat! boldly attacks huge intruders!", "Adventure Cat! defies gravity and climbs aloft on Ceilydh!", "Adventure Cat! traverses hot burning flames while exploring the stove!", "Adventure Cat! laughs (ha ha) at storms while frolicking in the wind and rain and dodging lightning bolts!". Some cats would live peacefully, but Adventure Cat! accepts the challenge and blows through his nine lives with indifference. He is a sailor after all.

Sleep well Adventure Cat.