It was a crisp Saturday morning in early spring. Six of us had assembled to commission our sailing club’s older 32-foot sloop for a season on the Chesapeake Bay. I had just joined the club and was hoping to make a good first impression.
The boat was already in the slip, and we spent an enjoyable day getting her ready, talking about how much fun we’d have sailing. One of the last chores was to bend the genoa onto the headstay and roller furler. Easy job, let’s see how the new guy handles it.
Crouching on the bow, I inspected the crusty, 25-year-old furler. Seemed straightforward enough. This model’s two swivels
