Spring is Just Around The Corner...

A sign of spring coming.. the masts start popping up! After being snowed and iced in for over 2 weeks I decided to take advantage of the first "decent" weekend to try out the new shrouds and speader that Strictly Sail made for me. I dragged the mast, boom and sails from my basement and Chris and I attached the shrouds to the mast. After some minor adjustments and sore fingers from attaching clevis pin rings the mast was up!

Her mast is 20'3" and is an impresive sight when it's up (It stood taller than the house), and aside from some cleaning is ready for the 2007 season! While we had the mast up I decided to put on the sails to see if there was anything missing. The jib halyard was broken (add another item to the list) so we only raised the mainsail. It's halyard is in sorry shape and will be replaced as well.

As Chris and I raised the sail, we were overcome with the stench of animal urine. Apparently sometime in its deep, dark past a cat (or maybe a raccoon) decided to pee on the mainsail. While the sail doesn't appear to be stained, it would make for an interesting downwind run! Fortunately I haven't gotten around to washing the sails yet so I'm hoping that it should kill the smell. If not a new main will be in order!

The days are getting warmer so in the next few weeks you can expect to see a lot of activity. For now I will continue to read my Sail Magazines and dream of 70+ degrees. Sip a pina colada, fade to black.