Next, a couple of the stays were fastened then the roller furling and back stay could be secured. Finally, the remaining stays were re-attached and we were ready to take on fuel and pump out before returning to our dock to put the sails back on and re-rig the boat. When I say 'we', I mean the royal 'we' meaning I stayed below out of the way and prepared them a nice hearty western omelet on an onion bun and only went on deck when called because a third set of hands were required or there was an inquiry about the whereabouts of an errant part or tool. Conversely, they only came below to seek food and cold water to sustain them as they toiled in the hot mid-day sun.
Finally, I had to emerge as nature beckoned and I made my way to the facilities. The last vestiges of the mast support stowed in the dinghy, side decks and unfortunately, the longest bit on the cabin floor below.
Just about done and zipping up the canvas, Ken noticed that the backstay was not positioned correctly and a quick look had him cursing himself. He had not fed it between the rails of the arch and when tensioned, it rubbed. As Jim quickly pointed out, one slight misstep in the overall scheme of reassembling the boat and something that could be quickly rectified was a non-event and they set about the task.