My little Corribee ‘Trivial Pursuit’ needs a sail cover. The ultra-violet element of sunlight has a bad effect on synthetic sail-cloth and I have already patched her sail rather too much. (the gorgeous terracotta sail has a rash of bright red zits!) Some of the trouble is caused by battens chafing when the sail is reefed or dropped to form the romantically named ‘Bundle’, hence the sail cover thingy!
Now when I purchased TP back in early August the previous owner told me there was a cover but it was too small. I tried it and it seemed he was correct. So after a couple of all-in wrestling matches (which I lost) I stuck the uncooperative thing back in the stern locker.
Today the high pressure is fading, as is the memory of sun-glimmer on tranquil waters and rich blue skies and so I had a one-last-go at fitting the cover.
One thing the Junk Rig teaches me is that you must do things in the correct order. OK it’s easy to reef, hoist and trim, but forming a neat Bundle that is an art. Now at last I think I’ve got it!
Buoyed up with hope and copious amounts of string (an essential on a JR boat) I hauled the ‘Thing’ out of its den.
What I had deduced was that it wasn’t too small at all, it was the bundle which needed to swing back and line up the mast with the appropriate opening in the sail cover. (by now perceptive readers will have figured out that I’m stupid!) Only a quarter of an hour later, pushing and pulling, with the application of string and very little blood (blood doesn’t show on a terracotta sail!) and the job was done. Then it started to rain.
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