Oy
Hello,
What is it with furler problems all the sudden? And Harken ones at that; we ordinarily see the most problems with another brand.
Anyway, what you are describing could have happened to anyone. As you say, it might have been a pole impact. Or the spreaders of another boat, or yard damage, or who knows? But if you can't lower the sail, it's a bad thing. You might be able to free it aloft, with the sail set, but just the thought of this gives me the shivers (see this month's "Fair Leads" for an example of how much trouble one can get into aloft). So yes, it's probably best to send it all down, unroll it somewhere relatively clean, and then to proceed with exquisite care to extricate the sail without destroying it. You might try driving a hardwood or plastic wedge in at a relatively loose spot, near the kink. If the wedge is wide enough, it should open the groove without damaging the sail. You don't need much slack.Work with the opposite edge of the foil face down on a hard surface.
If driving the slot open doesn't work, try Dremeling the edge directly adjacent to the sail, lengthwise. Put a protective spacer between the sail and the tool. The idea is to weaken the wall by the sail, making it easier to pry apart.
Oh, and before lowering the stay, be sure to slack the backstay, and to set up some form of temporary stay, in addition to whatever halyards are available. I'd even consider taking the stick out, if you're not supremely confident in aloft procedures.
Good luck with it, and let us know how it comes out, so to speak.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss
|