Do it fit?

The table project isn't done yet, but we took some of the parts we do have finished out to the boat for an initial fit. If it didn't, this seemed a pretty good time to find that out. There are still details to figure out, but I will admit to being moderately pleased with how its looking so far. The cabinet will actually be about 1.5 inches lower when bolted to the bulkhead, but this is as close as we could get to the correct height using a pile of parts boxes. And I wouldn't be in the picture detracting from the view except someone needed to hold the table up. As of yet I haven't finished the legs.

There were others laboring toward the new season as well. A team of two was replacing a damaged side panel and rub rail on the house boat they brought in near the end of last season. It looked to be a pretty good sized project. Another friend was seen carrying a bottle jack down the dock. It seems a bulkhead had rotted out of his pride and joy, the jack was needed to lift the cabin top up enough to install the new one he had fabricated over the winter. I didn't see it but Deb says it
is a beautiful bit of work.

The marina's newest newly weds are refurbishing a boat off site, the sale of which will help finance a trip to France. This is in addition to their on-site boat which is a multi-year cruising project of its own. Close to their dock another friend is replacing a badly warped chain locker lid with a new fiberglass unit he fabricated over the winter.

Up on the hard yet another boat is in the final stages of having its cabin sole replaced, a job the owner knew was needed when he bought the boat.
In our marina is a boat the owner bought as basically a hull. He then built a ketch rig with a custom deck just because he wanted one. At another slip sits another ketch rig built from scratch. At least one custom rudder was fabricated and installed over this season, to go along with a custom built bowsprit for off-wind gear. The intent for all this effort is to have the fastest, best-handling, Catalina 30 in captivity.

None of this is like changing the oil in the car or mowing the grass at the house. I'm not even sure this falls into the category of efforts by even the hardest of hard core hobbyists. Drive trains, rigging, hull integrity, structural integrity - sailors are some seriously handy people. Add an endless stream of sail repairs, canvas work, splicing lines, tending to hardware ... in a society dominated by people sitting around watching TV most of the time, it is all pretty refreshing.