Tag: Hot Topics

2021, Dazzler Approved, Spreading The Word

Spreading The Word

The new year has arrived and the Dazzler crew wants to start it off right by doing a little community service for our friends and business associates. What do we mean? Well, we’ve made a commitment that the first article each month will be one that has nothing to do with our travel adventures. Instead, it will focus on some business or organization that we feel deserves a little extra exposure in the world. Yes, we have our Dazzler Approved Businesses with links to ones we’ve used and recommend but these 12 articles for 2021 will focus on those that may or may not have to do with sailing and cruising. They will be businesses that we believe in or that we support. None of these businesses are paying for any of this. It’s just our small way of giving back. But don’t worry….this is just going to be one article a month. The rest of our articles will be the normal, crazy, adventure filled editorials you’ve come to love and expect from this team of ragtag sailors.

To kick off 2021 we couldn’t think of a better business to tell you about than Kickit Pajamas! Two of the founders of this incredible company have been friends with Jilly since childhood. These ladies and their two other business partners have started one of the greatest companies we’ve seen to date. 

So what are Kickit Pajamas? Well, first of all they are stylish and super comfortable. Second, and just as important, they are designed for women who are hospitalized for or recovering from horrible illnesses such as cancer. The unique design of these PJs allow the hospital staff to do all the things they need to do while allowing the wearer to feel confident about how they look and feel as they undergo some of the worst things on earth. After all, if you look and feel good you’re better able to face the tough days and focus on “Kicking It”….cancer or whatever it is that has you down. 

This isn’t just a business for these ladies. It is personal. Cindy, Jilly’s childhood friend, suffered from cervical cancer. It was a gift of some pretty PJs while she was in the hospital in the fight of her life that brought the idea of Kickit Pajamas to life. The pretty PJs she received made her feel good and ready to kick cancer’s butt! She did it too!!!

And one of the other founders, Anna, was the caregiver for her mother who suffered for four years with acute myelogenous leukemia and her father as he battled stage four pancreatic cancer for two years. Yes, these ladies understand that dignity and a will to fight means everything when you’re in a battle for your life. And, these ladies aren’t just doing this to make a profit, although profits are what keep businesses alive. They are donating a portion of every single purchase to help cancer patients and cancer charities. 

So, as you can see this is a business we are behind 100%! We want to see them succeed in every way and this is why we’re writing about them and adding them to our Dazzler Approved Businesses. Oh yes, we don’t want to forget to tell you that they ship worldwide so wherever you or a loved one is that can use a pair of these awesome PJs you can get them. Take a moment and check out their website to learn more about them and let’s help them help patients around the world to Kickit!

Click above to visit their site.

Until next time,

Jilly & Dan

December 2017, Featured, Hot Topics, Maintenance, Mexico, Rigging

Happy New Bowsprit :-) and Clean New Look

Dazzler’s Bowsprit project part two.

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Sanding the surface and preparing for painting

After all parts removed were cleaned and/or painted, the process of re-installing parts back onboard began. While the bow pulpit was off and being cleaned, Jilly discovered a crack and hole on the lower aft corner. That was sent off to a welding shop for repairs and was returned the next day. Thanks to Haracio in La Cruz for his valuable assistance. First I set the bowsprit on the bow and bedded it with 3M 4000 bedding compound.

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Clean Boat Bling and Cha Cha. The Sampson Post and Bowsprit strap were bedded and bolted into position.

Next was bedding the windlass and installing all of its cha cha. Next was starting to re-string the rigging. All was re-connected except for the Jib roller furling which needed its lower bearing replaced. This was a bit easier and a bit more difficult than it seemed. First the roller drum at the base of the foil came off easily. This allowed me be able to work on removing the large oil/grease seal from the bottom of the drum. The center shaft that the bearing rides on has a heavy duty circlip retainer keeping the bearing in place and preventing the shaft from riding upward. This little tidbit will be revisited later. The center shaft could then be tapped out through the top of the drum. After I cleared the shaft from the drum, another oil/grease seal and another circlip is visible and attached to the shaft. It is important to note that the two circlips on the shaft index the bearing placement on the shaft. I was able to locate the necessary replacement bearing and shaft seals locally here in the Banderas Bay area as the seals and bearings are standard type machine grade parts. There is a large circlip that insets against the interior of the drum against the outer ring of the bearing to index it against the drum housing. After removing that circlip, I was able to tap the bearing out of the drum. The ProFurl bearing and seal kit was somewhere in the neighborhood of $350 USD … if you can get one. The rigging shop in San Diego would not sell it to me because they have to be the ones that install it. I found all the parts I need here in the Banderas Bay area for approximatel $95 USD.

Ready to put it all back together, it went back together about as easy as it came apart. I recommend that you have some kind of heavy duty circlip tool for removal and re-installing the circlips. Those rings are very stout. Pack the bearing and the area between the seals with a good marine grade grease, but not too much. I used a straight probe carefully inserted between the shaft and the inner part of the seal to allow excess grease and air to escape while tapping the seal into place. I could now re-install the drum on the headsails foil. The forestay furler was attached allowing me to start tuning the standing rigging. Dazzler is starting to look like a sailboat again.

After tuning the rigging, we hoisted the staysail and furled it up. Next was the headsail. We hoisted it up with its halyard and I put the extra tug to set it in place. Now was the moment of truth. Did replacing the bearing correct the stiff roller furling of the sail? The answer was yes, but as I looked at the drum something didn’t look right. The lower shaft had pulled the top seal almost out of the top of the drum and was elevated about two inches above where it should have been. Knowing how the drum was put together, I knew that the lower circlip had some how failed. Which meant I had to de-tune the standing rigging, drop the Jib Sail and remove the roller drum, AGAIN, to take it apart.

The shaft pulled upward.
The dislodged seal

Well, the culprit was the lower circlip was too thick and did not seat into the grove on the shaft, which allowed the shaft to slide upward when I loaded the forestay halyard. I had another circlip that was a few millimeters thinner and that was the end of that. BTW, I was able to find the heavy duty circlip at another tienda here in Mexico also. Lucky or just holding my mouth right I guess.

The double repaired drum was re-installed, the forestay roller re-attached, the rigging returned and the headsail installed again. All was good!

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Everything is back together and working great.

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The Guiding Star. All cleaned up, polished and ready to Lead Dazzler onto new horizons and adventures.

As part of this bowsprit project I decided to replace the stainless lifelines with Dynema material. Since I had already purchased the Dynema line, I only needed a few end terminals, which I acquired at the local Marine chandlery in La Cruz. Two afternoons of splicing and the lifelines were completed. Dazzler’s stanchions are equipped with rings welded onto them to allow the line to easily pass through. I carefully marked those locations on the Dynema and spliced Dynema covers onto the lifelines. It turned out very nice. If attempting to do these cover splices, I recommend that you complete the first cover splice and then mark where you plan to make the next cover splice. I discovered that the splice reduced the length of the line by approximately one inch for each splice.

Spectra covers at wear points
Spectra cover buried in the Dyneema Line.

The Dynema was so easy to work with and splice. I was able to remove a few splices and move the splice to the correct location. I used about 16” of Dynema cover for each splice. I also stitched each splice with Dynema whipping twine to finish it all off.

Parts List for the ProFurl furling drum and life lines

Bearing FAG #16010, this seems to be a standard number with different manufacturers

Seal Dichtomatik #39395, 80x50x12mm

Regular 3/16 Dyneema line with a breaking strength of 6,500 pounds

Johnson products were used for termination points.