I'm still hammering away at the projects on the boat, but this past weekend we traveled in to Halifax to visit our daughter for a low key and pleasant visit and yesterday we took in a movie at the theatre in Bridgewater, just to flush the brain and bod of boaty stuff, for a change.

The wiring is just about completed; I have finished swapping out the defunct battery bank and have replaced it with brand new healthy batteries. There is still a dog's breakfast behind the switch panels but since that is working fine I am going to leave that problem until next year.

I am doing the fine adjustments to the vane steering control lines (there is more to that that you might think, at least more than I had originally thought) but now, that too, is almost done. There is the vane angle lines to install and the helm control sheets from the servo oar to the wheel that have to come into the cockpit at just the right angle that will avoid all of the other standing gear and arrive perpendicular to the axis of the wheel.

I have a very little bit more of the freshwater system plumbing to finish and that should be done. Over time some of the sound proofing on the underside of the cabin flooring has come loose and is hanging down blocking my access to that part of the boat and not actually muffling the engine noise any more. I need to fastened it back up to be able to finish the plumbing jobs. That will also allow me to get to a junction box for my depth sounder and speed transducer that I need access to in order to fix them.

The antifouling is on, three coats. The only part left to be painted is that part of the hull that is under the jack stand pads and I will do that immediately before launch.

The Admiral has been busy too. If you read her post of about a week ago you will see the list or marlinspike projects that she has been working on and the photo accompanying this post shows the stackpak for the mainsail that she has completed. From just this first time bending on the main and using the stackpak it is obvious that it is going to be a big asset to maintenance of our canvas. She has finished the one for the mizzen too and we'll put that on with the sail as soon as I have the mizzen step rebuilt. She has also made duffle bags, and stowage bags for some extra solar panels and for the wind vanes.

Speaking of which, all that is left is for me do on that project is to screw up my courage and actually begin to do it. Everything that I need is either in place or fabricated or both. Fingers crossed everyone.

Since a lot of the mechanical versus carpentry jobs are done, I have put away all the tools and stowed everything that I had taken out of the lazzarettes in order to install the wind vane gear and the Archbishop. Much more space below and a lot less feeling of impending disaster. It will also go a long way towards letting me actually find things. I have tidied up my vast collection of wire bits that have been left over from previous jobs sorting them out by colour and size and chucking out anything that is so small that I'll clearly never use it. Amazing how all that can build up if you allow it. There was also an amazing amount of nuts and bolts, threaded rod, washers, and stuff that I will be bringing home. I have made the decision that since most of it has been on the boat since we started cruising and never been used, the chances are that it will still be there when we do finally swallow the anchor and pack it in. That being the case why are we giving it a berth? I used to take the position that, who knows? Someday there might be a need. Well, common sense says that if there ever is a need I am smart enough to work out some solution or we can buy what we need while underway.