Cruising Sailors Forum Archive

The boat that cured me of deliveries was all hydraulic.

It had innie and outie headsails, like the photo, with, IIRC, Rondal furlers. The mainsheet was trimmed with a hydraulic cylinder inside the boom. When poking around the boat before we set off, I found a big 4-part tackle in the lazarette and thought to myself, "I wonder what this is for?"
Sho 'nuff, a few days out we found out. The mainsheet hydraulic cylinder blew a gasket (or similar) and took out ALL the hydraulics. Furling and unfurling the jib was a job for a patient man with great stamina . . . especially when we had to use a ratchet handle because the arrangement didn't permit a full turn.
That was 20+ years ago . . .
The logbook, written in French by a previous delivery skipper, was most informative. If I'd had that to read before signing on, I would have passed.
Hydraulics are wonderful . . until they are not - - like everything else, I guess.

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