"No nonsense" headsail roller furling system from Alado

I've ordered a headsail roller furling system from a small Brazilian company called Alado. The Alado system seems like a very reasonably priced no nonsense product. Head over to www.alado.com for more information.

Apparently the Alado A2 kit fits the Ballad assuming it has the original rigging - like everything else on Obelix (including cushions, sadly) the rigging is original. I was accurately looking at a Harken MKIV but the price (18.000 DKK or roughly 3.300 USD) seems a bit high. The Alado on the other hand was only 1220 USD (roughly 6700 DKK) including shipping and import duties.

Practical sailor did a review of the Alado back in 2009 which can be found here: http://www.practical-sailor.com/issues/35_2/features/Alado-Jib-Furler_5735-1.html

Assembly Instructions (written instructions): http://www.alado.com/manual.htm
Assembly Instructions (video): http://vimeo.com/4847741

Once it's mounted and I have had a chance to test it I'll be sure to post a review. I'm even considering doing a video documenting the installation.

Fun with plywood - final test-fitting

Due to the unseasonal warm weather in november I had time to do a final test fitting of the new plywood. With the exception of a few places everything went together fairly easy. Unbelievable fulfilling - a huge morale boost!

Bolts that secure bulkhead to deck, missing backing

A fellow member (Peter, www.mostlyaboutboats.ca) of the balladexchange forum (http://balladklubben.se/balladexchange) commented that I should check the backing of the three bolts that secure the large bulkhead to the deck. In his boat Albin Marina had placed the backing (plywood) too far forward and there was no backing to support the bolts. I checked and my boat had the same issue. If you look at the drawings the backing is clearly supposed to be there (link).

I used a 40 mm hole saw to cut out three sections of fiberglass and then used the same hole saw to cut three pieces of Okoume plywood. I used the hole from the hole saw to line up the pieces of plywood and then applied generous amount of WEST System's Six10. The next day I sanded the area and painted it.