[Public-list] rigging upgrades

[ellen landrum]

Hello A30 List-

We have been cruising the East Coast and Florida for the past few
months and have had limited access to the list. Please forgive us if
these questions were discussed recently, but as we prepare the boat to
cruise Central America, we could use some advice:

1. We are installing a ham system and insulated backstay. It's come to
our attention that the A30 was originally rigged with 304 stainless,
and now recommendations have been to upgrade to 316 stainless for all
standing rigging. We've heard that when going with 316 the wire size
must increase to retain the same strength as the 304 rigging. Has
anyone completed this process recently? Did you go with a larger wire
size? Any advice/experience we'd appreciate more than you know!

2. We caught the tail end of a conversation regarding new masthead
fittings. Could we have a brief synopsis of that discussion? In
dealing with the backstay issue, we are interested in replacing the
masthead, as we'd like to use Sta-Lock or Norseman fittings
exclusively and the present set-up would make it difficult to use
them, esp. on the forestay. Has anyone switched over to unswaged
fittings? Any troubles? And if folks are ordering new mastheads, we'd
love to hear about them.

 We are sitting on a mooring in Marathon, FL with another 3 A30s,
delighted to have similar company. You can email to the list or to us
personally with more detailed info- Erlandrum at gmail.com.

Thanks so much!
-John and Ellen Landrum
s/v Rubicon (hull #72)
http://www.ellenjohnandrubicon.blogspot.com