The last thing to do before we get to really sail is step the masts. So, here's an update on the mast-stepping project:
After stripping paint off things and then repainting them (after we'd assured ourselves that things were in good condition) or re-making them (some wood bolsters were cracked and some bronze worn or corroded)....Most all the "stuff" is now residing on the masts (mast rings, top fittings, wires run, tangs for shrouds, thumb bolsters and associated blocking, etc) and I'm almost through leathering the 17 hoops that are needed for the foremast. Seems to take me about 3 to 4 hours to do leather one of those suckers. Nice sit-in-front-of-the-tv work, except I don't seem to have time to sit in front of the tv and do leatherwork...
Almost done with the standing rigging splices that can be done off the boat--one more soft eye for the staysail stay. This boat has a weird combo of soft eyes and tangs. I guess that's what you get when something has been re-rigged so many times over the years. We put the lovely bronze mast track back on the mainmast today and noticed the cut-outs in the blocking under the track which were put there for soft eyes that were at some time later replaced by tangs for shrouds. Feels like we're putting little bits of her history back into the boat
Tomorrow the masts get moved from our inland location to the waterfront yard and they'll be stepped on Monday or Tuesday. We'll be doing touch-up paint over the weekend and cutting the remaining standing rigging to length, installing our new Hi-Mod fittings on tops of everything attached to a tang...and...then, after the masts are stepped, there is a bit more work for me to do the in-place splices on the lower ends of the shrouds and the associated leather work. David has "other" stuff to do like hooking up all the wires we ran for spreader lights, masthead light, steaming light, etc, etc, etc.
More later on our project. Back to another mast hoop
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