I realize this might raise howls of protests from the sailing world and right away let me say it isn't ALL straps the bug me. The short ones holding things in place or the really long ones running from stem to stern for one end of a safety harness never draw a critical look. Maybe because they don't really intrude on anything? But the middle length ones, the ones that always seem positioned in the exact right place to catch a toe; the ones that buzz in the wind until they work themselves slack and then stop doing their job? (Which is a puzzle since, when one needs to loosen them for some reason, it takes a screwdriver and incantations in multiple languages to get the locking rings to let go.) I don't care for them at all.
So last weekend I got rid of the 5 straps used to steady the bimini by adding a few lengths of tube. Not only are the straps banished for good, but two of the tubes now act as handholds right where we needed some in the cockpit. Even better the space between the bimini and the soon-to-be-dodger is no longer bisected by an ugly, buzzing strip of soon-to-be-slack nylon webbing. Not bad for a couple of hours worth of work.
But that was last weekend. It is Friday again and getting late ... off to a shower and the V-berth soon ... just as soon as the rest of a gin & tonic is drained from my glass. Kintala is still stuck to the pier though a bit of rain has fallen to the north, just enough to tease us by shaving a couple of inches off the exposed shoreline. Seeing as we can't go anywhere, while Deb works on getting the dodger canvas under control my priority this weekend is the exterior teak. In order to get two coats of finish on it by Sunday night I had to get it scrubbed tonight so it would be dry by tomorrow morning ... which is why I need a shower and am enjoying the gin & tonic.
Another weekend, another project.
2 comments:
You'll be sailing soon.....starting exterior woodwork guarantees that there will be a deluge coming shortly.
I wish I could believe that, but the Corps came by last weekend and asked the marina manager what would happen if they lowered the lake (which is currently at 444.0, 6" short of what we need) to 443...442...or even 441. The marina manager told them that at 443 30% of the customers would not be able to use their boats. At 442 70%, and at 441 they would be closed. The fact that they're even asking, coupled with the long-term weather forecast that says higher temps than normal and lower precip than normal, has me wondering if we'll even be able to get the boat out of the water when we're ready to leave.
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