There is light at the end of the tunnel!

I have been throwing all my time and effort at the boat since January and today, finally, it seems like it is coming to a close. Not out of the woods yet by any stretch but I can see the end is in sight. The winter refit list got longer and longer and seems to have grown into a thing with a life of its own. For months I have been wondering why I do this stuff and today, watching the other boats sail past and knowing that ours is so close, makes it almost worth it. The "worth it" part will be when the sails get hoisted that first time this season.

The winter list included:
-Remove keel, repair keel bolts, rebed keel.
-Strip hull to glass, barrier coat and antifouling.
-Upgrade to Simrad belowdeck autopilot.
-Upgrade to Simrad instruments.
-Upgrade to Furuno chartplotter/radar.
-Replace standing rigging.
-Service mast and rewire/new lighting, etc.
-Upgrade to 8-to-1 outhaul in boom.
-Service all winches.
-Four coats wax on hull.
-Rebuild steering system, rebed pedestal.
-New throttle/shift cables.

Still to go:
-Install rebuilt rudder
-Two more coats wax
-Service engine/spring commissioning.
-Custom engine pulleys
-New regulator
-Launch boat!
-Step mast/tune rig
-Program electronics

SAIL THE BOAT!

With any luck, in less than two weeks, I'll be there. Its been a long hard winter and I can't wait to sail! RT

Good news and bad

The good news is that there IS light at the end of the tunnel! The bad news is that it might be a TRAIN!!!

Congrats!

S