August 4, 2016

After wrestling some more with the double braid eye splice, I took advantage of the nice weather to finish multiple coats of Cetol on the first two-thirds of the starboard rub rail. Looks much better already. As far as the splicing goes, I would call the last match a draw: I completed the splice with no problems pulling the core and cover through each other like I had last time, but neglected to smooth out the bunching around the eye soon enough and often enough. Should be able to fix that next time. The resulting splice is obviously much stronger than the Samson method I had used before. The buries are much longer and the splice is so tight that the line in the spliced section is stiff enough to support the weight of the line. Still, I'm burnt out enough on the splicing that I'm giving it a rest. Besides, I need to let the milking blister heal. So, while waiting for each coat of Cetol to dry, I did some easy and satisfying little jobs like refreshing the paint on the dorade cowls and LifeSling. Of course there's still the nasty little surprises that become a real PITA. This time it was getting a 5 gallon diesel jug out of its storage cubby in the engine room. Turned out to be impossible because the new big battery installation blocked off so much of the opening. I had to cut the jug apart inside the locker through the relatively small opening. Of course there was some left-over diesel in the jug. Although I had prepared for it to spill, it was still nasty and unpleasant. I eventually was able to extricate the jug in pieces, safely soak up the spilled fuel in rags and oil diapers, and cart off the waste for proper disposal at the boat yard. Nothing got in the bilge at least.  Sigh