I try to avoid being superstitious. But in the future I don't think I will write, "Unless something breaks", on the public forums.

The bungee cord I had holding the tiller clearly was not made to be out in the sun all summer. It just sort of disintegrated while I was out on the big lake. Not a critical failure, but it was annoying.

I also had one of the batten parrels come untied from the batten. Again it was not critical and I could still sail with the line hanging loose. I tied a short loop of rope to the batten, the way Arne did recently, to make a more reliable attachment point. I did not stitch it to the pocket like Arne did, but I put a patch of grip tape on the batten before using cord to lash the larger loop to the batten. I plan to do this for all the batten and HK parrels this winter.

It was suggested to me that holding my phone against the boat might show the motion of the boat a little better. Below is a video where I held the phone against the cabin top and deck while sailing in something like 2.5 ft waves. This is near the upper end of what I consider comfortable sailing.

https://youtu.be/pQSaeSy6m-I

I think I am done sailing for the year. I am planning to haul the boat out this week.

Happy Spring to those of you in the Southern Hemisphere!

Arne wrote:

[...]That red and white material is just tape. I put it under the hose clamps to avoid corrosion, and I didn’t bother with removing it when going Dyneema. Thanks to that little white ‘safety string', that lashing will never slip.[...]

Hi Arne,

Thank you for answering my question about the tape. Is there some reason why you used Dyneema? The low stretch and high strength properties do not seem to be critical in this application. I think Dyneema is also relatively slippery rope, meaning it does not hold knots as well as something like polyester.

I would like to use your method to attach the my batten parrels. I am too cheap to buy Dyneema unless it is necessary.

Arne wrote:

[...] Our summer doesn’t last forever, and the fine days we still enjoy here, must be spent on better things than writing. [...]

The daylight is getting noticeably shorter now. I went out to fuss with the aft ends of the battens on Thread  last week, to get them lined up flush with the sail. I ended up doing most of the work with a head lamp in the dark. The days with sunset around 9:30 and twilight until after 10:00pm are gone already!

Anonymous wrote:

I plan to make a more comprehensive write-up about it, and then incorporate the lashing of the halyard to the yard.

Cheers,
Arne

So that was the plan you came up with.
I had read about your intention to try an alternative way to secure the batten parrels and HK parrels and was literally about to email you to ask if you had.
Since the 'rigging' of Jasmine's sail is soon to become real I for one eagerly await your write up.
Fair Winds,
Hans-Erik

Arne wrote:

This weekend, before going on a Sunday sail, I replaced all those hoseclamps on the battens with firm lashings of 2mm Dyneema line. The reason was that the hoseclamps bled rust onto the sail. The method appeared to work very well. The lashing, generally consisting of 4-6 single overhand knots, was tied as firmly as I could without tools, and then the final knot was tripled and fused. This is not nearly as taut as the hoseclamp, so a little helping line was added to the backside of it and then stitched to the batten pocked (see white string). Its job is just to get the rolling hitch effect of the lashing ’started’. There is no load to speak of at that white string when the rolling hitch effect of the lashing sets in.

I plan to make a more comprehensive write-up about it, and then incorporate the lashing of the halyard to the yard.

Cheers,
Arne

I thought about using hose clamps but I could never bring myself to accept having screw heads and other pointy parts of the clamps right where the sail bundle stacks up firmly against the mast.

The simple hitches I have at this location, aft of the mast, have not given me any problems. Honestly they look like they would work themselves loose, but they have not.

I have the batten parrels running out to the forward end of the batten and then each one looping back on itself and held there with a rolling hitch. This is the hitch that is 'pushed' by the mast and slips over time.

Arne, what is the red and white material under the Dyneema lashing? I have been thinking about doing something similar, but using the same grip tape (friction tape) I used to attach the halyard

Scott.