Ok, I admit, I have been a bit remiss in updating this web site, a week in San Francisco and other work commitments have kept me from working on the boat. But, we are back, and have been back for a couple of weeks, I have been too lazy to do the write ups, so this will include progress from August 7th and August 14th.

Starting the morning of the 7th, we started on the demolition, getting all the old junk out of the boat and pulling out the bulkheads. It was a mess down below, as you can see . The boat had at least 200 lbs of junk onboard, including a huge anchor, the table, the original cushions and enough life jackets for a cub scout pack! I even still have what is left of the original curtains onboard. David is amazed that we were still in the same time zone with the rest of the fleet when we did race, much less win our fare share! We found all sort of fun stuff, including 50 mud dauber nests. I am surprised the Parks and Wildlife Department didn't declare my boat a Insect Sanctuary.

So, we pulled the boat up into the shade, it was hot, humid and no wind, so being on the open concrete pad was not going to happen! Even then, I probably lost 5 pounds, so it was a double good day. I am waiting for the day when someone gives me a hard time about parking in the grass. I have to run the trailer over the parking stops to get under the trees, but it is worth it.

Just look at some of the junk we were able to get out of the boat! Of course, now I need to find a place at the house to store this junk. I am going to wrap all the cushions in plastic and put them in the attic. It will take me two runs as I can't get all this junk in the back of the truck.

Once we got all the crap out of the boat, we found a real problem. The bulkheads were rotted along the bottom edge. There is a leak somewhere, and with all the rain we have had, the plywood has been sitting in water and disintegrating. Oh joy! I understand that this is typical on Catalinas, but it is still a pain. So, it was off to the store to buy some Tite Bond III glue and to look at turnbuckles to use to stiffen the boat with.

Just about the time we get the crap out of the boat, it starts to get dark and the rain comes!

Sunday, 14 August: Well, we have to burn part of the day repairing the Pearson 31. The previous day we had been out sailing, while motoring in, the impeller in the water pump decided to give up the ghost. More on Aphaia's page. But, it took a big chunk out of the day. Afterwards, we decided to make a run to the West Marine store for fasteners. Today, we were determined to start bolting things on instead of taking them off! So, the plan was to get the new Winches installed, install the dog house winch for the Jib halyard and get a start on the traveler assembly.

Brand new Harken 8 Aluminum Winch! Isn't it pretty? Only an hour of drilling holes, filling old holes and crawling down below in the heat. Oh, wait, I didn't crawl down below in the heat, David did!!!! And I am sure he will never let me forget it...

So, over on the right is one of the original Arco 6 winches that we moved to the doghouse to use for the Jib Halyard. This winch needs to be rebuilt, but that will have to wait. It sure is a lot more fun to bolt things on than to take them off!

All the time I am bolting stuff on, David is putting the finishing touches on the mast openings using a file and sand paper! All the edges of the opening have to be really smooth to reduce chafing. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of David as I was kind of busy trying to do the traveler system. We had decided that we only needed 6 of the 8 cheek blocks I had ordered. Of course, when we got out there and started looking at it, we did in fact need 8 cheek blocks. So, we won't get it done for another week! While doing this, we notices that my traveler was totally destroyed, all the sheaves were shot and it was the old model, where the sheaves can't be replaced. So, it was back to the Catalina Direct website for a new traveler and for the mast base with fore and aft rings for the vang and down haul. I like doing this work, but I will be glad to be done spending money!

One last thing, we were able to perform one of the only known oustidejibtrackectomy! It looks really good without the old outside jib car track, and of course, according to David, we got rid of another couple pounds! WhooHoo!

Next week, fabricating the mounts for the new Harken Ratchematic cheek blocks for the cross sheeting system!