We bought our Morgan Tiger Cub in February and something's been bugging us since day one. The windvane at the top of the mast was bent back:
It just didn't look right and prolly wasn't all that consistant at that angle. I don't have the ability to get up there to fix it and I've been thinking of ways to strighten it from the deck. Today I decided to give my best idea a try. I had an old spreader lying around:
Drilled a few holes:
And then fastened it to the backstay. I used the main halyard (tied the bitter end to the bottom of the old spreader to form a continous loop) and ran it up the backstay:
It just touched the bottom of the windvane, that was the first failure:
So I drilled another hole, lower on the old spreader. It pushed the windvane up a little but it seemed to spring almost all the way back, that was the second failure:
So I drilled another hole, even lower on the old spreader. It pushed the windvane up and I tried to compensate for the "spring back" effect. Well, it didn't spring back now it was too high, third failue:
So, I made a little "hook" with a bolt:
Ran it up the backstay one more time, success:
Now the boat looks great and the best part: The admiral admitted I'm a freakin genius
Next day!
Fat-assed bird!
DB