Date:....Ongoing, ongoing, ongoing

Why do they call it stainless steel if it still needs polishing?

I just spent days on the deck rubbing and polishing off the rusty spots on the stainless steel lines, cleats, hinges, stantions, rigging ....it goes on and on for miles. My hands throb just looking at the now beautifully gleaming topsides. I had lots of time to contemplate boat maintenance. And once again the lesson is relearned that salt is damn corrosive. All those sailors I see hosing down their boats and polishing them are not just making it look pretty.
Namaste is finally in to the paint booth for the final stages of her make over. A few more days and we can start looking at splashing her.

Dinghy life.
Without a dinghy, cruisers are in big trouble. It is our lifeline to the shore. The adage around marinas is 'lift it or lose it'. A dinghy in the water is at high risk of being stolen. Several have been stolen in our area. So Ron got busy and rigged up the MOB block and trapeze so we can keep our dinghy safe. Yeah!

Small spaces
Do you know that size is important when it comes to engines? And not necessarily just the engine but the little room it sits in. Ours is so small Ron has to be a shape shifter to do anything in it. His latest excursion into our Lilliputian world was to remove the coolant reservoir. Several days of grunting and exasperation it is out. A trip to the local welder and his parts shop was intriguing. See pics of his well organized shop. Yet he knows where everything is. Unfortunately he didn't have the reservoir what we were looking for. So he welded the leaks and we are good!
The local rigger has been up the stick and has sorted out the halyards and electrical. All navigation lights are a go!