Update: progress with boat chores

Yes, even with all of our gallivanting around this week, we (by "we" I mean "David") managed to get several chores done aboard the boat. The leaking starboard portlight has been replaced and the three other pieces of acrylic have been cut to size and shape and are on the list for installation. This is a perfect example, by the way, of how frugal David can be. At Plasticene, the place where we bought the acrylic, they cut the general rectangular size pieces we wanted at minimal cost, but to cut the curved portlight shapes we needed, they wanted an additional $60 and two days. David opted to cut the shaped pieces himself and save the money and time. Speaking of leaks, our keel-stepped mast has been leaking as well. Whenever it rained, a small cascade of water would drip down the mast through the deck fittings and into the salon. The water ended up in the bilge, but it was definitely an irritant to David. He tried several different mast boot configurations, but with the next rainstorm, we'd see the water streaming down the mast once again. This time he removed the stainless collar around the mast on deck and re-bedded it. No more leaks based on the last few days of rain.

Ah, the batteries. You'll remember the seemingly endless process of load testing and equalizing the batteries. The four good batteries which were on the starboard side of the boat have all been moved to the port side and rewired. The “ballast” dead batteries have been removed from the boat which was no easy task considering they weigh 150 pounds each. We brought the main halyard through the salon hatch, attached it to each battery in turn, and slowly winched each of the four up and off the boat to a waiting wheelbarrow on the dock. A local fellow recycles them and whisked them away. Farewell, ballast! We replaced one of the bad batch with a new one for use as our starter battery, using the reverse process to lift it off the dock and lower it down and into place. David wired it up and it's good to go. We're feeling good in the battery department.

With removal and relocation of the battery bank, the boat is much more in trim and no longer listing to starboard. That meant however, the stove was no longer level and required another go at the leveling process to keep the cook happy.

Midst all this, David managed to repair some fiberglass gouges in a friend's hull. Not a bad week AND we managed a bit of recreation between all the chores. But alas, the hydraulic fitting saga … yet to be resolved.