Yipeee... first day of Spring!!! That means sailing season is on its way. There are no log entries for winter since snow and cold weather are just depressing to talk about. I do have a number of new items to add to the boats inventory though. My wife gave me a tool kit for the boat. Somehow I had managed to move all my tools from the garage down to the dock, leaving nothing for repairs at home. I also spent a lot of time reading over the winter months preparing myself for spring repairs.

After a month of waiting I finally received my order from The Chandlery. This years "gadget" upgrades will consist of a new Windex, Galley Pump for the head and Mast/Foredeck Light. The big repairs/upgrades will be the installation of a new Rub Rail along with new Outer Shrouds/Mast Raising Kit... which I have to mention arrived quickly within a week and a half from D&R Marine. Thanks Rudy! On another note, I purchased a Fid Kit online and have learned how to splice rope. This will allow me to do alot of other repairs while at the same time save some money. So far I can do Double Braid Eye Splices, End for End Splices, 3 Strand Eye Splices and 3 Strand Rope to Chain Splices.

Just a quick update... I've been doing a lot of repairs/upgrades but the weather has been just terrible. Tonight is suppose to go down to -2C with some snow. This makes painting, filling, fibre glassing, etc. impossible. When it does manage to get up above 12C I quickly do what I can. Right now I'm hoping for a very warm day where I can put on the new rubrail as well as replace a through hull fitting. Sorry for the lack of photos but the various tasks have become so overwhelming that I just cannot bring myself to spend additional time trying to capture the moment. Instead I will have pictures of the finished product and be thankful that the job is over.

It warmed up a bit this weekend and I had some extra sets of hands to help out, so.... lets get this rub rail attached. The process was long and tedious, first lining up the rub rail holder, drilling some screw holes, bedding the screws in sealant and finally tightening up the screw. The hardest part was making the 90 degree corners at the transom. It was great to have this rather large task finally completed. The next task was to rewire the mast. Upon removing the plate at the bottom I discovered the previous owner had filled the entire length of the mast with expanding foam. Sure it stopped the wires from rattling but it made it impossible to make any easy changes.

The weather is yet again crappy so the plan is to work inside the boat today. Grabbing a bucket of paint and a roller I went to work in the v-birth, covering the rather pink (skin color) walls with a new bright white. By the time I made my way to the stern of the boat, the entire cabin looked like new. I decided to paint over the horrible orange counter tops as well with a bright white melamine. This of course means stripping down the counter and removing all fixtures and fittings. Why is it a small job always leads to a bigger job, which in turn leads to an even bigger job??

After consulting both friends and sailing forums I was able to gather enough ideas and suggestions to start work on the mast again. I soldered together 30 feet of 3/4" copper tubing and used a dremmel tool to cut teeth into the one end. I slowly shoved the whole assembly into the mast while rotating it back and forth. It took some time but it finally popped out the other end. I attached 2 wires for the anchor light to the end of the tube along with a stringer line (for future problems) and then pulled the tube back out, bringing the anchor lights with it. As the end of the tube passed the small hole halfway down the mast for the deck/steaming light, I dropped in a hook which grabbed the stringer and I was able to pull those light wires through as well. Everything is now hooked up and in good working order. The only thing I was unable to do was pull through an antenna cable. I can't find anyone in this town that sells it. Guess that's something I will have to order and install next year.

Today I decided to buff up the hull using a fiberglass restorer and wax. It took a few hours but when finished I could actually see my reflection. Next it was time to put on the new logos. Just as I was applying the first decal a sun shower came out of nowhere and beads of water started running down the hull before I could finish. This of course caused small water/air bubbles in places and was a major disappointment. I seem to have the worst of luck!

Another job finally complete was a new through hull. The original was plastic, no backing plate, no shutoff valve and a thin bead of silicone. I'm very surprised the boat has not yet sprung a leak and sunk! The new through hull is bronze and I glassed in a large backing plate. Of course there is now a shutoff valve and everything is bedded properly. I ended up rebedding the knot meter as well. It was installed under the same conditions as the through hull.... poorly.

Today is launch day and we brought the boat down to the launch at 9am. The same friend that pulled it out last fall dropped it back in... and it was floating in a matter of minutes. The motor fired up right away and 20 minutes later I had arrived at the dock. Might I add, "New Dock". Turns out they did some dock upgrades and I was awarded with a new dock that reaches the entire length of the boat. Things are looking up as I no longer have to back into my slip!

When I went down to the dock today I was fortunate enough to have three other guys down there that had no problem with giving me a hand raising the mast. Without their help I'm not quite sure how I was going to put it up since I didn't have all the gear set up to use the mast raising kit. Later I tightened up all the rigging and put the sails on. Although summer isn't officially here for another week, it has always been my tradition to declare summer once the boat is in the water and ready to sail. This means my next blog entry will be in the summer section!