Excited!

Were it not so DAMN COLD it would have been a great day of sailing today. I gotta hand it to the ol' girl, she sails like a dream. Can point her right up into the wind and she goes great on a working jib. Main got a stretched out a little, the new rig performed well, and that Vetus Diesel is a trooper. We got 8 knots on the main and working jib, can't wait to see what happens with I get #1 genny up!

Troubles were expected, of course, most of which turned out to be minor. On the other hand, we had a BIG issue with the winches. The winches are mounted to wood bases just outside the combing, and the bases are, in turn, attached to the deck. The starboard side winch, and to a lesser degree the port side as well, actually began pulling themselves out of the wood mount. I'm assuming time and weather have taken their tolls and the wood has just rotted. We worked out a fix and ran the starboard jib sheet through a block to the port winch, but I'm obviously going to have to remove the assemblies and rebuild them over the winter.

There are a couple major issue lying just below the surface. The wood the engine is mounted to is rotting. Given our recent loss I think it's prudent that be moved up on the "next haul out" list.

Equally as ominous, and perhaps more pressing, is the throttle cable. According to my diesel guy (I am NOT a mechanic) the throttle cable attachement is ancient and hanging on by a thread. Replacement parts, of course, are non-existent. He thinks the trip up will be ok, but a complete replacement of the handle and attaching mechanism is necessary within the next year or so. Hope it holds out until I can afford the wheel conversion!