Fairing

We are using a high filling primer. One coat on and the hand sanding is pretty agonizing. 

I also installed the boom hardware for the lazyjacks and mostly the hardware for jiffy reefing. 

I am more or less finished with the stack pack. I took my sewing machine to the club and added the final major parts. Just have to hand stitch the forward ends of the batten pockets. 

Sewing sewing sewing

Matt brought home the mainsail for me so I could lay it out with the sail cover and mark all of the hardware placement against it. So now that's done I have been adding the closures on the bottom. All that we have left to do is take it back to the boat, put the sail back on, install the jiffy reef and the boom hardware for the lazy jacks, measure the gap we need to close on the front of the sail cover, take it off again, and sew a custom panel to go over the front of the mast, attach the connection points where the sail pack ties to the lazyjacks and then we will be done. Phew. 

Here's another tip: the DVD that comes with the sailrite kit contains a different video from the one on youtube. The methods are a bit different. I thought the one on youtube was more geared to beginners. 

Also I burned out a bearing in my sewing machine. I keep oiling it but I think I need a replacement part. Not sure how to proceed with that since there aren't exactly numbers on it. 

Haha. Sailcover=couch potato. 

Meanwhile at the yacht club Matt has faired the hull. 

And gotten one coat of primer on.  

Sewing again.

The sail rite sail pack kit is definitely taking over my living room.  Here's a free tip. Just because it came with a DVD containing an instruction video doesn't mean it will be like watching a cooking show. Watch the video. Read the written instructions. Do it. Do both. Seriously. 

Paint Prep

Poli Glow Poli Glow Poli Glow.  Let me add thee to my list of life regrets.  By the end of the second year it was chalky and messy looking.  Ammonia wouldn't take it off.  Sanding didn't take it off.  Acetone and a lot of elbow grease does.  We got two thirds of it off with a gallon, yes a gallon, of straight acetone.  The plan is to paint the bottom, paint the bootstripe tan, and paint the hull green. There are a lot of bad spots on the hull with fiberglass showing through that need some protection.

Meanwhile let me say that an extension ladder leaned on the spars is really not the best way to approach working on the mast.  It is too wobbly and probably about the most unsafe thing we have tried yet.  Since that didn't work out I made some inquiries and found someone with a mast mate who was willing to lend it to us.  The sail cars were a little small and kept popping out of the track but it worked out in the end.

 The tangs for the Harken Lazyjack kit are now installed.   The kit came with two options for attaching the tangs to the mast.  First you could use stainless steel rivets.  We tried that first, but they wouldn't pop correctly no matter what so we had to switch to screws.  It took some scrounging and we had to borrow a tap to thread the holes, but in the end it was a smashing success.  Now I just have to finish my part(I have cut out the parts but that's about it.  Long way left to go, lots of sewing).  It was also a beautiful day at the club with all the flowers starting to bloom.

 I foolishly did not take any before pictures of the terrible poll glow situation.  With it off the hull actually looks so nice it is tempting to skip painting.

2013

So for 2013 we mostly just launched. We didn't even spruce up the poli glow. It was a great year. No derechos got us, and we got our brand new mainsail at long last. 

We also splurged and bought a zodiac zoom dinghy from defender. It has been a real game changer. It has a hard bottom that really makes all the difference in the world. 

For Christmas I bought my husband a set of harken lazy jacks and a sailrite stack pack kit! 

They sat patiently in the basement until this week when I finally got the measurements I needed to manage it. The only trick is that we need to get up above the spreaders to install the lazyjacks and the yacht club isn't hiring a high lift this year. We have to scrape together enough members to make it worth renting or find some skinny daredevil person to go up the mast for us. 

Bellamy the salty sea dog in her little pink life vest. 

The new dinghy

Where I left off

So I ordered some fancy sunbrella fabric to re cover the saloon cushions. I decided that there was no sense in working on the vee berth cushions. I think now that covering them the first time was a wasted effort. Guess what. No one sees the vee berth cushions. They always have sheets on them. 

I bought white vinyl mesh to do the bottom surfaces of each cushion for drainage and air circulation. 

Here is a larger shot of the quarter berth cushion:

Shortly after this I broke my foot and had to take a hiatus from the project. When I was feeling up to it I had some help from my mother who got the dinette cushions up out of he basement for me. Unfortunately she thought they were more symmetrical than they were so now I have them backwards and slightly off size as they were not symmetrical at all. 

Oh well. Close enough. 

As of February we had plans to repaint the topsides, replace the forward casting, shorten the standing rig (seems a tad loose), move some hardware around etc etc.  Then in March I broke my foot and all the plans went out the window.  Looks like we are skipping everything except bare maintenance.  Finally got back down to see her last weekend and we reapplied varnish, bleached out the stowages, and found about 40 cans of sodas and beer in varying stages of decomp ranging from OK to solidified to exploded.  Yum.

Anyway, this weekend we just have to re install the bilge pump, put a latch on the forward hatch (I confess that even prior to the derecho we were using  a rope to hold it down.  Very unseamanlike.), and launch.

Only big job is to finish re covering the saloon cushions.  The fabric I used the first time grew some nice fuzzy mold so I took the plunge and bought some real sunbrella.

My order for a new mainsail has been placed with Bacon's Sails and it should arrive in June.  Until then we will be running with the giant sail we bought used from a Saber 28.  It has to stay reefed all the time or it is way too large.  Sadly, the reef points are starting to blow out so hurry up Bacon's!