Last Wednesday, I went to the boat after work; it was blowing pretty good, and I wasn't sure if I was going to brave the seas. After all, I had finally put together my furling line upgrade, and it was ready to install. I decided to bite the bullet and install the thing. All I needed was some stainless hardware. So after measuring the size of the new bolts I would need, I went to the Branford hardware store (why bother to drive out to West Marine?). I spent $3.71 on some screws, went back to the boat, and did the final assembly. I mounted it on the stanchion, and voila! So cool.

I decided I just had to go out and give it a test run, so out I went for about an hour's sail. I came back in with the racing fleet. I couldn't be happier with the results.

I am still getting the "inaccurate results" message from the GPS for tide data. I called Garmin, and they said the 72 is too old to get the new data, and they won't be updating the software because they have discontinued the model. Upgrade time?