We worked today on raising sails. Each year, we seem to forget the nuances of putting on sails and it was the same this year. We also raced against wind, since raising a sail in wind simply isn't possible and is usually dangerous to people and gear. We have to wait for the lulls to do any work.

Eventually, we got our gear together and decided to get the larger sail on first: the jib. And it's enormous! We got lucky with the jib and endured just a few small gusts before we could get it raised, adjusted, and rolled up on the forestay.

Although the main sail is smaller, it's physically much heavier. There are battens to install: lengths of fiberglass placed through horizontal pockets in the sail that stiffen the sail and provide better shape. We also had to install the "lazy bag", a cloth bag that hugs the boom and into which one can easily drop the main for protecting the main from sun and the elements. Both can be difficult when working in a sea of stiff nylon cloth, flopping in the wind.

While waiting on the wind to cooperate, I studied our next big chore, the water maker rebuild. Conni worked her tail off in the heat and did all of those chores that add up to a well-ordered deck: lines stowed, line bags installed, dodger completed, and lots more. Wings looks like a sailboat on deck, at last.

The weather is supposed to deteriorate starting tomorrow, Wednesday, and continue to be bad until Sunday. We've thought about it and have decided that scrambling for a mooring or dropping a hook then waiting out bad weather, is a poor entry into sailing this season. We've got a boat that hasn't been in the water for almost a year and we'd be facing 12-foot seas and 27 knot wind. Nope. We'll stay ashore and hope that we'll be splashed on Friday and sit in the little launch slip until Sunday, then head to Taha'a. We can fill water tanks, inflate the dinghy, and test the engine, all in the safety of the slip, and with their power and water nearby! Sounds like a plan to us both.