Crtd 10-09-05 Lastedit 15-10-27
Redoing the Rig
Size matters! [earlier
discussions of this topic]
Our sail surface is 142 m2, and its fore leech rope, fixed on the folmali, is 25 m long, the folmali consists of two middle age eucalyptus stems dwarfs the mast (12 m) itself [picture of dhow under sail]. This old folmali is now dangerously rotten, which is normal after one or two years: no paint (remember the price of paint here is almost Western and for new trees you pay the owner 4 euros).
Both halyard and stays needed maintenance. The dhow was not exactly crammed with volunteers. Captain got himself hoisted in his parasailing harness.
Two medium size eucalyptus trees at the JP Cuttings compound, tape marked, lost their feet to be joined and form our new 25 m folmali [procedure]
Carrying a tree down to the shore involves difficulties surprizing to many a porter
While the dhow got her maintenance, my Kiswahili got it as well: Mashabala does not speak English, he shows no ambition to learn it, but is totally devoted to correcting my errors. Great!
Left: Patching the sail (using a sizeable part of the football field). Despite storage in tent under steering deck it got wet and developed fungus. Right: dhow ready, bare wood shiny of linseed oil! New folmali mounted.
Left: chain leads down into concrete filled oil drum hanging 2 m below water. Right: cutting the final rope.
Our last job: 50 m off shore, near our mooring drum we left, before our maintenance operation, an anchor to retrieve later. Fishermen stole the floater that we left to mark it. Trawling a 10 m fishnet we "caught" it, but it got hopelessly entangled in fishermen's nets, its own mooring line and the chain of the drum, all 4 m under water. Diving and pullied lifting of both anchor and barrel to which it got chained let to its surfacing.