Evanston: progress
Evanston: progress
Saturday was a wash out. Thunderstorms were predicted. I hoped they would be brief and passing. They, or rather it, wasn’t.
We arrived at the boat at 11:30. So did thunder. I managed to drill four holes for U-bolts to be used to lock the companionway before the rain began.
We had brought our lunch with us and retreated to the cabin where we remained for three hours waiting for the rain to stop before we gave up and drove home.
That is the longest I’ve been in the cabin and the time was not wasted. I connected the battery and found that the cabin light works, as did part of the rudimentary instrument system. There was ample time to look around, consider what needed to be changed and how; and to establish that the v-berth is big enough for two people and reasonably comfortable.
It was a pleasant surprise to see that despite rain heavy enough to close O’Hare and flood streets, GANNET did not leak.
Yesterday was sunny and 30ºF warmer.
We again drove north, carrying unnecessary Polartecs with us. Even at the marina it was a shorts and t-shirt day.
I completed installing the companionway lock; rove two new jib halyards; moved the instrument package to its location on the mast and ran the wires back through the deck, at which time several of the connectors broke. What wiring is on the boat is not well done and will need to be replaced. I was prepared for this.
Carol and I raised the mainsail, which looks good but has a bolt rope that comes completely free of the mast when the sail is lowered. I can see myself having fun capturing and lashing the sail to the boom.
We also raised the no. 2 genoa, which also looks good, but has a two inch tear near the foot. This is a racing sail of some sort of plastic rather than cloth. It also has hanks, something I haven’t had on a jib for decades. I may in time put furling gear on the boat, but hanks are not all bad. A lowered hanked on sail is still under control.
Handling GANNET’s sails had me smiling. I’m used to raising sails to the top of THE HAWKE OF TUONELA’s mast, which is twice as tall as GANNET’s. Small is good.
And we got the decal name on both sides.
I have considered painting GANNET’s hull black. If so, obviously I’ll have to order another set of name decals; but I decided that it is worth $40 to have the name on now.
I do not in fact dislike her present hull color, which I have been told is ‘prairie wheat.’ When I paint the red rub rail black, I think I will like it even more. The red boot top will have to remain until the boat is next out of the water.
In the photos her deck appears white. It is actually a bluish shade. The horizontal surface is non-skid; the vertical surfaces in the cockpit have been badly sprayed with considerable sags and runs. I’ll repaint sometime.
The only thing on the list we didn’t do was replace the starboard stern pulpit. For reasons that are not worth explaining, the two stern pulpits are not identical. I have the right one, but late in the afternoon didn’t feel like crawling aft and contorting myself to loosen nine bolts.
The other thing we didn’t do was go sailing.
That may be next.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011