Sailing Jibseavideo
IS THIS ABANDONED TREASURE WORTH THE RISK? - Ep 239
June 15, 2025 · 16 min · 47K views
What this video covers
Travis climbs an abandoned boat's mast on a self-raising bosun's chair to retrieve a Pro Furler headsail furling unit, aiming to replace Jibsea's Hood furling interstay so both the headstay and interstay carry matching Pro Furler units. The abandoned boat — a keel-stepped, rod-rigged vessel hauled after hitting land and destroying its rudder — accumulated nearly $40,000 in yard fees over roughly 20 years and is effectively scrap. The Pro Furler unit shows no corrosion, spins freely, and appears to have sat unused since new. During the retrieval, cleats rip out of the deck under Travis's weight; he re-rigs to a steel cable halyard and completes the climb. Back on the dock, Steph and Travis disassemble both the salvaged unit and Jibsea's existing interstay furler, cut the cable to free the extrusions, clean every component, and reassemble. The salvaged drum is beefier stainless than the existing Hood unit. Travis also notes the interstay cable appears recently replaced, likely before they acquired the boat. The practical finding: a salvaged furling unit in dry, protected storage for two decades can emerge in serviceable condition, but sizing must be verified before disassembly — the salvaged unit turned out larger than expected, requiring cable cutting to complete the swap.
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