Week 24: A Bright and Sunny Weekend

We had a couple of parameters we had to work around this weekend.  The boat is all sealed off due to painting.  Tom got the final coat of sealer on the hull and has been busy sanding all the remaining imperfections before applying the paint primer.  Meanwhile, we were pretty much banished from the boat.  This wouldn’t have been so bad except that sanding a hull means tons of dust and the temperatures have been in the upper 90s.  So outside or into the basement we went.

Bill’s project: the mast.  It was outside but we did manage to move it into a shadier spot closer to the shop than it had been in.  Bill worked on several projects on the mast: installing the new spinnaker track and grinding a pair of “ears” off  up by the spreaders.

Here’s what it looks like installed.

The radar mount platform was installed. The idea was to install the radar to the platform and then take them off the mast as a unit for transport.  The only snag was that the cable that goes to the radar could not be unhooked while the radar was bolted on.  Easily fixed, but it will mean one more thing that will have to be put together in the yard when the boat is ready to float again.

The “ears” on the mast were major line snaggers, so Bill got rid of the ones on the front of the mast.  We’re keeping the aft set for when we add lazy jacks (lines that will catch the sails when they are dropped).

Meanwhile, in the cool of Tom’s basement, Nina got to work on the wires that go up the mast. So they don’t thwap around inside the mast, they had to be bundled.

Yes, it was cooler in the basement, but crawling around on your hands and knees on a concrete floor for hours is rough when you are passed middle aged.  After 287 cable ties, it was ready to be installed, or stuffed up the mast.