I was back at the sailboat this morning, working by myself until past noon. I think I've mentioned previously that one of the critiques of the Catalina 25 as an ocean going vessel is the pop top. It is said that the pop top is a weak point because it can detach during a knockdown and allow the large cabin to fill with water, risking a sinking. In order to reduce that risk, I bought two extra hatch dogs and spent today installing them on the aft part of the pop-top where it is vulnerable to peeling away from the deck in extreme conditions. The installation for each hatch dog includes two through deck bolts requiring sealant and another four drills through the pop-top itself. Everything had to be measured several times to fit right. I also installed those black clips that hold the bolt and screw out of the way when the pop-top is being raised and lowered. You may recall in a prior post I lost a hatch dog when the pop top closed unexpected and broke the copper bronze bolt right in half, thus initiating this saga of hatch dog installations. I've just about got the new ones installed. Had some trouble getting the bolts to go in right. The hardware that came from Catalina Direct turned out to be too light and I had to make a few trips to Ace to get beefier stuff. Once its done, it is going to take far worse conditions than I hope to ever be in to pry that pop-top off its deck mount after all four hatch dogs are secured. One of the reasons I am going through this trouble is that I really love the pop-top. It makes cruising in the Catalina 25 much more enjoyable. Without it, the crouching below decks would get unbearable. On a different note, I got a call from Mike from Mike's Marine and he says the Evinrude 10 hp two stroke is serviced and is working fine, electric starter and all. We'll see if it starts when it gets re-connected to Boker Tov. Mike thinks it will as a result of some improvements to the wiring on the engine. Not having to buy a new engine will save thousands and I kind of like the old one so I'd like to get it working right.