Sail & Rig Checkup Part 1

Today was the day to remove the sails and take them to the sailmaker with one question. "Will these make it across an ocean?" Our rigger already pointed out some chafing on the jib halyard all the way at the top, we ordered a new Sampson MLX halyard this stuff is amazing, super low stretch thanks to a Dynema core, it has 12,200 lbs capacity. I went with only the necessary length to hold the jib tight when hoisted on the roller furler. We asked them to splice our old halyard material onto the new so the only part that is loaded is the new stuff. I tried to explain this to the shop where I got the line, they were pretty confused as to why we would do that, they said it was not a load-bearing splice. I explained that at $3.60 ft, it made no sense to spend $360 on line with 50+ feet would be coiled up on the mast in the sun for months at a time. The old halyard is fine and acts as a messenger line to pull the jib up, then the new MLX is the actual halyard. We also got a 'new boat owner' discount at Downwind Marine so it was only $2.46/ft. The only thing I want stretching is our dollars. 
The folks at Quantum Sails have our main and jib to get working on them. Pictures below will tell most of the story. George, Theresa and Christy were amazing. Very knowledgable and they started work on our sails as soon as we left. George Szabo is a rock star in the sailing world, 21 national & North American championships plus a world champion in 2009. They made solid recommendations based on our goals, not their favorite racing setup, which speaks to their integrity and willingness to serve the cruising community. 
Stay tuned on the rest of the story. 

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