More Leaks

I guess I spoke too soon when I said I'd fixed all the leaks in the cabin. Heavy rain yesterday, including wind gusts up to 50 mph, caused a couple leaks to show up: one small, and the other pretty big. The small one is just a couple bolts on the starboard toerail joint I had to epoxy back together. It's not serious, so I'll let it go for right now.

However, the other one was pretty big. I had to hang a plastic sandwich bag up under it and caught about a 1/2 of an estimated cup that came in around the companionway frame. I think it just needs to be caulked. I was waiting until I finished the cockpit, but with that much water coming in, I'll go ahead and caulk it this morning once it dries out. Part of the reason the leak was so bad was because the wind and rain was at my stern most of the day, and piled the water up against the base of the frame.

Exhaust watch:

I had to order the fiberglass exhaust reducer yesterday, so it won't arrive until Friday. I might also replace some of the hose, but will wait until Friday to decide what I need. I may be able to get a couple of small pieces from Gill. I only need about 6 inches of 2" hose and about 2 feet of 1 3/4" hose. I think I can get that much good hose out of what I've got, but it might be better to go ahead and get new hose, especially since it's a safety issue.

Mast watch:

I need to go up the mast to adjust the radar reflector bracket and put on chafing gear. I also need to be able to get up the mast by myself in case of an emergency at sea. After speaking to Jimmy, the dock manager, about it, I decided to take his advice and get a set of ascenders. My brother Charlie does a lot of climbing, so I called him and he explained how he uses them and helped me choose the right climbing rope. I plan to haul it up on a halyard, so I only need about 50' (I bought 100) -- I don't want to climb up a halyard because they are expensive and closely woven, so they won't stretch, and I'm afraid the ascenders might damage them. Both halyards and the climbing rope should be considered safety gear, so I don't mind having a dedicated rope, much the same way I have dedicated ground tackle, i.e., anchor chain, nylon rode, and snubbers.

I ordered a couple of ascenders, the rope, and harness from REI, then started searching for examples of how to rig up and use them -- youtube is great for this sort of thing. Anyway, I found a couple of examples of using Metolious "easy daisies" and "easy aiders" (the easy daisy connects your harness to the ascender, and the easy aider also connects to the ascender and has a foot stirrup at the other end) so I altered my order to include 6 locking carabiners, and a set of easy daisys.

REI didn't carry the easy aiders, so I had to order them directly from Metolious. I should get the REI order on Friday, but it might be early next week before I get the Metolious order. If the aiders don't get here by Friday, I'll use some line to hand tie a set so I can go up the mast Friday or Saturday. The wind is forecast to pick up again early next week, so I want to get this done while it's still calm -- at least the first time.

Day watch:

There's still a little wind this morning, but we've got a bright blue sky and lots of sun. It's only supposed to get up to the low 40's today, but the sun will warm the boat up nicely. I'm going to concentrate on finishing the deck today -- there are still a few things I need to remount. I want to get it all out of the way today so I can spend tomorrow working on the engine and the mast. I also need to connect up the wiring, so I'll try to do that either today or tomorrow too, however, it's not as critical since I won't be going out at night until I leave next week.