Rain, Lots of Rain

It started raining sometime after midnight and hasn't stopped. It's under 50 with high humidity, but I don't think it will affect the the caulking. Although I got the porthole openings cleaned and ready -- I had to clean off the glue from the months old tape holding the plastic covering -- and all the handrails taped, I was only able the get 2 of the 3 caulked (the doubles, inside and outside, in the saloon). Also, I had to cut off one of the longer bolts this morning to make it fit, but will caulk the last one as soon as I finish lunch.

Then I'll start on the six small, opening portholes. I need to dry-fit and tape them first, then I can remove them one at a time, caulk, and remount. I don't foresee any problems, but I still need to do a little more prep work on the larger non-openings ones in the main saloon.

I have to remove two screws that were corroded and broke off when I took them apart, mainly because the leaked badly over the years and got wet every time it rained. Other than that, I think they're ready to go. I'm planning to mount them without the plexiglass and add that later. The only potential problem is that the headliner doesn't fit tightly, so the frame must squeeze the deck and liner together, about an inch in some places, but very flexible. I hope that just makes for a better seal, but since it will be so tight, it may also squeeze out too much caulk and not give a good seal. I may end up redoing these once I get to Houston, but right now, I just the get everything on and get out of here. I may try to use my clamps and only do one at a time, but I'm not sure if I have enough time to let the cure -- it's too cold to leave it open at night.

I cut a drain channel in the bottom of the mast step yesterday, but still need to glue some splinters back together. The teak blocks for the turning blocks in cockpit also need to be glued, but I haven't gotten them ready yet. Maybe I'll get to that this afternoon. However, I may need to wait until the next sunny day, Saturday, when it's warm under the cover to actually glue them. With any luck, those will be the last things still needing to be remounted, and I can remount them on Sunday.

Assuming all goes well, I should be able to finally remove the cover on either Sunday or Monday. That would mean going in the water next week. Not yet sure when I'll actually leave, but late next weeks is looking good.