The mast is up!

Yesterday I've prepared everything for the big event today: stepping the mast. I've never done it before and have also never seen it done before. But everybody told me it takes approx. 30 minutes and is painless. If everything is prepared right. It took approx. 30 minutes and was painless. Guess I must have prepared everything right . Which wasn't that hard either, because I have a copy of the "Boatowner's Mechanical And Electrical Manual" from Nigel Calder. The book is as big and heavy as the title makes you think. And inside are lots of pictures, drawings and descriptions on what to look for, how to do things, and also how not to do things. I love those pictures the most, some are absolutely shocking. But it turned out that Ulrich, Vespina's previous owner had done everything right in the first place. And he had put all the bits into one big red bucket with "Ketchup" written on it. So all I had to do was put the pieces from the bucket in the right places. Easy! After cleaning them and checking them for any signs or material fatigue, rust etc of course. Finally all the long hours I had spend as a child trying to put together Lego puzzles without the help of the booklet payed off! I have to confess I'm still doing Lego puzzles now and then . What remains to be done now: • straighten the mast and tighten the shrouds • climb the mast and put the halyards into it • attach the boom • whip the sails up • mount all blocks and rollers • attach the sheets to the sails • mount the mainsail stacking system (lazy jack) • mount and connect the VHF antenna to the masthead • mount and connect the 3-color-lantern to the masthead • attach the back gantry • mount and connect the radar to the back gantry • mount and connect the wind generator to the back gantry I hope I don't need a day for each item. Unfortunately the wind is blowing too strong now (Bft 6-7) to do any decent job on the rigging. So I'll start with the back gantry until the wind dies down a bit.