I did this same polishing job, same time last year...

This last week has seen lots of progress... I unwrapped the boat... and re-rigged the boom to the mast... started to prep the bottom for pain... (I bought expensive stuff this year, hoping it will work better than the cheap stuff.) On a sad note... one of my new spinnaker sheets is now 5 feet shorter after a failed attempt at an eyesplice... 3 hours, blisters and sore arms later... I just cut it off.... still plenty long enough.. and I can tie a knot!

I got these from the scraps bin at Hamilton Marine... There are no ID's on the hanks... BUT a little internet investigation...and I find these are New England Rope products... the Yellow is Climbing rope... called Matrix Pinnacle Yellow Jacket... and the the Neon and white is Hy-Vee Safety Line... I'm going to use the two Hy-Vee lines 63' each for Spinnaker Sheets... the longer Yellow Jacket, 148' is going to be the Spinnaker Halyard... and the Shorter piece 48' is going to be my new topping lift... pricing this out... it's over $300 worth of line... I got it for Under $80.... yay!

Easter Sunday... trip to the boatyard... Awesome day.. warm under the shrinkwrap. I have a lot of work to do...

The manager of the boatyard called me yesterday to confirm my launch date. 25 May... on the High tide... That gives me a little more than two months of prep time... I always uncover during the first week of April... I have some sewing to do... I put the batteries on the charger about once a month.... I might get two new ones.. and combine them as a bank, and keep my 2 year old set as a bank... I bought a spinnaker on Ebay... It had a small tear, but I patched it... and the rest of the sail seems in great shape... I still have no idea how I am going to rig it...

Nearing mid March, a fantastic Sunny Day, I drove over to Winterport to make sure she was still there... Mast was still plumb, and the shrinkwrap taught. My older Grandson and I went last week, with a Lobster Boiler, and poured hot water into the bilge sump to get the few inches of ice that had collected out... It was something to do, that wasn't a home improvement project... and gave me some time bonding time with my crew-in-training.... Mid May, I keep telling myself... it will be here quick...