Sorting out a new/older boat

[HiHeels2]

My husband and I recently purchased a CAL 31 that has been sitting around for a while. We are attempting to sort out what works and what doesn't. Currently we are having issues identifying the roller furling.
I am attaching a messy photo, any help identifying it would be appreciated.

[arf145]

I think you need at least 10 posts before you attach a photo. You can give a url of the location of a photo, just not as an actual link.

Oh, and the year and other info on the boat will be helpful.

[BubbleheadMd]

If you mean that you're having trouble actually finding the roller furling gear, I can point you in the general direction.

There are 2 kinds that might apply to you-

Jib or foresail furling, in which case you'll see a round drum at the bottom of the forestay, at the tip of the bow. You spin the drum to wrap the jib around the forestay which may have a flat, fiberglass or plastic bar that runs most of the way up towards the main mast.

Main sail roller furling- Some boats have a motor or hand crank that either wraps the mainsail around the boom or around a shaft recessed inside the boom so that the mainsail gets sucked down inside the boom. Look on the end of the boom or the front of the main mast to see if there's a place to connect a crank handle.

Hope that helps.

[HiHeels2]

The boat is a 1979 CAL 31. We were able to unroll the headsail but not roll it back up. We are trying to figure out the manufacturer to see what the maintenance requirements are (that have probably not been done in a few years). The furler looks very much like the Harken units - black with a swivel unit above the casing.
Sorry didn't catch the photo issue, Thanks for trying.

[deniseO30]

Hi Hi, welcome to the forum. I use photobucket to post pics here.

[SVPrairieRose]

If I understand you correctly then I might suggest that the drum may not have been set up correctly. When you have the sail furled the drum should be nearly empty of line, and when your sail unwraps, the line on the drum should wrap. Its a game of give and take. Try to drop your sail off the track. Twist the foil a number of times to fill the drum with only as much line as is necessary and re raise your sail. At that point you should be good to go. Good luck, and happy new year.

[MtHopeBay]

I had trouble with the older model of Harken furler on my 1982 boat. I found several problems over this past season, my first with the boat. Lubrication is very important on the drum bearings and on the extrusions that swivel about the stay. You may need to clean and lube. The other problem I ran into was the top swivel catching on the jib halyard. I couldn't see it from my vantage below and when I took some zoomed in photos to check it out it looked okay. But it evidently was rubbing on the halyard because it rubbed through and the halyard parted late in the season.

The worst part, though, was that the PO had replaced some screws in the lower unit that actually were too long and clamped onto the lower swivel. Probably not an issue on yours unless someones been tinkering.
Mike