Furler issues

[tpaliwoda]

If you have a Profurl roller furler on your boat you may want to check this.
First I have to tell you that even though this was a close call, the mast was not that close to falling down.
While sailing downwind a few weeks ago I noticed a little more movement in my headstay, a pulled on the backstay to check and I didn't like what I saw.
We immediately ran a spare halyard to the bow cleat and tied it off.
On first observation, we noticed that the bolt on the bottom of the Profurl roller drum came loose. We got the sail down, and the boat back on the mooring, and we thought we fixed the problem.
Next week, we went out again, and I found it real hard to unfurl the sail. Looked up to see what the issue was, and much to my amazment, the top Sta-Lok fitting came undone! We still had the spare halyard attached and the forestay was also being supported by the jib halyard, so again no real worries about having a crashing ending.
We went to the top of the mast, always fun in a 2'-3' chop, and took apart the top Sta-Lok fitting.
We took the entire furler and forestay off the boat, placed on the dock, and rebuilt the entire system! We had the entire job done in three hours!
We think the halyard got tangled in the top of the forestay when the the bottom drum came undone. When we furled the sail, it twisted the Sta-Lok fitting apart.
The furler drum mounting screw is now siezed with siezing wire, and the top Sta-Lok fitting is re-assembled with red lock-tite. I also found out that Profurl now makes a locking pin - guess this has happened a few times before!
Just my experience and something for you to check on your boat!
Helping you keep the mast up in the air.
Ted
_________________
Ted Paliwoda
D'Fly 1000 ; HN #1
Nice Tri
Raritan YC, Perth Amboy, NJ, USA

[Oscar]