Slogging up a sand dune this week, but I made it almost to the top anyway. A small unanticipated fix was the replacement of an AC circuit breaker that could not be switched off. As much as I dislike having my project plans interrupted, I dislike fires more. So I replaced the breaker immediately. At least one was available locally. The big job was finishing the installation of the hardware for the staysail rigging: two new/used winches, a new cleat and two new double turning/foot blocks. Lots of little complications made the project an uphill battle: bolts too short, suppliers having one less bolt than I needed, etc, etc. Only one near disaster which I narrowly escaped purely by luck. I discovered the hard way that the little ball bearings in my beautiful new Garhauer turning blocks are not captive. When I removed the mounting bolts to replace them with longer ones, all the little bearings suddenly leaped out. The block happened to be resting on some plastic sheeting at the time and the bearings stayed within the folds of the plastic instead of rolling out the scuppers into the drink. So scary I had to calm myself down in order to methodically recover the little buggers. But I got 'em all. Whew!!! Eventually I got everything mounted. I still need to remount some oak overhead battens (some of which will require a bit of modification to accommodate the new protruding nuts and bolts, despite my cutting off the excess bolts).
The good news: the leaky port that I removed and resealed did not leak in the rain this week. Not a major downpour, but it did rain pretty hard for 30 minutes or so.
Maybe I'm getting a bit burned out, but I'm starting to agree with SM: maybe it's time to go sailing....As soon as I complete the staysail project, and if the weather allows?
Wow what nice pastoral cloud mind nutrition!
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