So, now I come to rigging the sails. The boat came with many lengths of rope, many blocks, many shackles and from these I have to reconstruct the set up of the sails. It is a complex job.

I finally unpack the new sails.

!992 sailbag with 2018 sailbag.

Will I ever be able to fold the jib like this again?

Jib halyard, throat halyard, peak halyard, topping lift not there yet.

To raise and lower the sails you use ropes that are called halyards. To make the halyards work efficiently there are complex arrangements of pulleys. I try to figure it all out. Once I have understood, I will replace all the rope.

Reefing a sail means making it smaller. This is very important as you do not want to have too much sail up in strong winds or else the boat will blow over and you will drown. The Norfolk Gypsy has a sophisticated method for reefing the mainsail. This is predicated by the existence of a plate  attached to the gooseneck pin with two small double blocks attached to it, which the reefing lines go through. Are you with me?

Anyway, I do not have this plate and so I have to make a new one. What a great sense of security to know that Nagahama san is on my side.

This is a wonderful place. These people can make  anything from metal.

Nagahama san is the boss here. He is young but has obviously got it. We discuss making a new reefing block support plate. You would think that this would be difficult seeing that I speak limited Japanese and he speaks limited English. I have worked with him before. https://quietripple.wordpress.com/2018/01/29/skegness/  It makes me happy that complex design questions, how long? how wide? what weld? what bracket? what diameter fixing hole? can be resolved  through common excitement rather than advanced language skills.

He is a star!

When he is not making reefing line pulley support plates for Norfolk Gypsies, Nagahama san builds high precision wave turbines for Shintake sensei. He is going back to the Maldives in November. https://www.oist.jp/news-center/news/2017/9/20/sustainable-future-powered-sea

Alack, another minor typhoon is passing over. This I know by flocks of Pacific Golden Plovers and Kentish plovers sheltering from the wind at Shioya harbor.

Kentsish

Notice how the Pacific Golden Plover is already in winter plumage in August.

Plover discusses Brexit.