Thanks for the replies! I have used the toothpick trick at home many times, why not here! Duane

Hi Bill, I have just had this problem. My in-main-mast-furler from 2010 was blocking (September in Ponta Delagada) due to a broken lip seal. The lip seal did break into pieces, did fall apart and

Pat, Gary Silver uploaded a file with an excellent write-up on overhauling the Mizzen Furler called "SM Mizzen Furling Gearbox Overhaul". You can find it in the files section if you search for "SM

Hi Pat, "Gob smacked" is a Kiwi colloquialism (saying) for very, totally, completely, utterly amazed. (and any other adjectives you can think of) The salt levels in the Caribbean are higher, or so

Related--does anyone know a source for the white plastic fasteners that were used on the dodgers of many SMs and SNs? They featured a tap that slid in to lock to the pin. One of the advantages of

Hi Duane. I used wooden toothpicks, preferably the tapered variety. Dip the ends that will go in the hole with any flexible waterproof glue. When it sets up, cut the ends that extend outside the hole

Thanks Alan, That's helpful about the LN175 not being continuously rated. I had not seen that. In fact had seen that large body alternators loke the LN175 were better for handling the load. That

Duane, I second Craig's suggestion. Plus, if it fails in less than 50 years Craig will come and personally fix it for you. ;) 3M 5200 is known as "The Devil's Glue" and should really only be used on

Danny, I wish we had not already drained our water system, the marina has as well, its starting to get cold here.I think I will take the gearbox apart and take home ,clean & grease. I may pull the

Dan I'm pretty sure that Bill and I put up all the relevant stuff. I did it with a Next Step reg, but basically the wiring will be similar. The wire you need is the field connection from the

Pat and Craig, That is very interesting that apparently the SM and SN do not have any kind of top bearing for the main and mizzen furler extrusions, I learned something too! My boat does have a

Hi Pat, Almost certain to be salt build up. The carribean salt is brutal. Rinse all moving parts with floods of fresh water. Over the top of the gearbox,up the input shaft, the swivel or spinner as I

Craig, I assumed that there had to be a bearing at the top of the extrusion and did not realize the swizel served double duty . That is a very helpful piece of info ,and yes I did get the sail down. I

Hi Paul, I am fairly certain that you will find the twist lock at Grenadine Sails and Canvass in Bequia. Avell and Debora have a web site through which you can contact them. They do excellent

Hi Pat, There is not an upper extrusion bearing up there - it's just the swivel that centers the furling extrusion when the sail is up. With the sail down the extrusion just bangs around freely. Same

Toothpicks, broken off to length, work fine. Add silicone when the screw goes in. Guaranteed for 50 years. Cheers, Craig

Nick, There are a number brands of "drop-in" Lithium-Ion batteries with internal BMS on the market. As you can see from the Battle Born teardown, not all of these are created equal. Regarding the

James, I realize there must be some sort of bearing at the top of the mast, I guess I should be asking if anyone has had a problem with it seizing up. I will take your suggestion and seperate the

Pat, I would try detaching/disengaging the mizzen furlers gearbox from the extrusion. This would allow you to determine where the binding is. I will leave the specifics of how to detach the

I have a few loose screws in the stainless steel trim for the portlights. I need to add something to make the screws tight. These are very short wood screws (only two or three threads). Most of the