And Still More Rain!

SHIP'S LOG:

It is not possible to weld stainless steel in the rain and so, as a result, the stanchion remains broken. The rain did stop yesterday and the day turned out wonderful and now the welder needs only to finish his other delayed projects to get to mine. Hopefully, it will not be too, too long as ABISHAG is ready to go! And me too!

Fred and Bob went down river yesterday and to New London. They left around 10:30AM and I got a call that they were safely ashore at TYC at about 8:30PM.  Even with the 3 knot push down the Connecticut River, it is still about 42 miles and with a top speed of about 7 knots it does take a little time, especially when you you don't make 7 knots all the way. They did all motor-sailing but at least they had a beautiful day to make the attempt.

I didn't go because I was to work on my dodger and sails at the loft. However, as these things sometimes go, the "window" for the dodger didn't get ordered and  that ended that idea. I only found out once I got down there, so I lost a chance for the first trip of the season even though it would not have been on my boat.

I did take the time to install a new air filter system on ABISHAG. The old fixture was tiny and rusted and needed replacing. The new one is a space-age and colorful and even reusable.Tightened the screws on three large hose clamps and the deed was done. It took longer to set up to do it and clean up afterward than to do the actual procedure.

I went down to TYC about 5:30pm to see if Fred and Bob had gotten that far. Obviously, considering the time of the phone call, they hadn't. I waited for a bit and then decided to head "home." Friday I will make another attempt to fix the dodger as I have the assurance from Big John that the window material will be in.  If it is, the work should not take long and then I will truck the sails up to the boat. The dodger will be able to be fitted but the sails will have to wait until ABISHAG is in the water less the sails "fill" when being "hanked on" and literally blow her off the jack stands.  You can feel her move abit in the wind even without the sails in place so it is a real possibility. So that will have to wait also for the launching.

I am not sure if I will get launched today or tomorrow and  if not, it will probably wait for next week.  But then again, if I have learned anything over the past few years, it is patience.It will happen when it happens.