Sails and Sand!

The moment of truth has arrived, I finally opened the sail bags to check on the condition of the sails that were on board when I bought the boat at auction over a year ago. The sails had been perfectly packed, a good start...
I had been putting off the moment, I didn't want anymore nasty surprises, the MPS (multiple purpose spinnaker) didn't look too bad, only a couple of small patches.

The Genoa was in good condition but on the other hand the Main looked very baggy and had lost it's battens, but it will do in the meantime.
The one thing that was a bit stange was that there was no sail identification numbers.
I will get one of the local sail-makers to make some replacement battens plus give us a price for a new sail.
All that was left was to re-flake the sail collection and put them back in their bags, the family suddenly decided to go shopping and I was left with the refolding 1 handed, the dog wasn't much help, not such a perfect job this time, so the sail-bags looked very full!

Sanding seems to be a never ending job - I think in retrospect it has been the worst, dirtiest and most uncomfortable job I have ever had to do.
This was made doubly bad, by finding that the hull was in great condition and didn't need such a radical clean, still with the paint system I'm using, this will not need to be re-done for at least another 20 years with the exception of the annual anti fouling and water blast cleans.

Another Step on the Way

The offending bearing is now out, I had to revert to using a hacksaw to ease the removal, now all I need to do is install a new one...

The new grab rails have been fitted and look quite good, when you do these apparently simple little jobs you understand why boat-building is so expensive. (lucky I no one told me that I couldn't do this stuff, probably wouldn't have listened anyway)

Cutless Bearing!!!!

I have been battling with the cutless bearing which refuses to move, I've tried, heat, hitting with hammer and made a puller out of pipe and steel rod but it's still stuck.
It has been left under pressure for 12 hours so 'maybe' it may have moved - I believe in father Christmas as well.
My next option is to start cutting the bearing out of the stern leg.

The work on the inside has almost come to an end with the new upholstery being made and fitted by Mrs DIY, it's all starting to look really good, only 2 more squabs to go.
I have had quotes for moving the boat over the hill to Seaview Marina for the fitting of the new engine and re-stepping the mast, then it's the "Grand Relaunch" of Thursdays Child, back into the water...This is planed for about mid January 2012.
One thing that we need to think about is the name, I believe it's time for a name change.