Boat refitting during Autumn storms
Jobs are finished for the day as a storm has rolled in.
According to the Met Office we currently have winds from the North around 25mph gusting 44mph (the gusts are always fairly continuous here as the wind funnels along the Menai Strait). The winds will get a bit stronger before starting to slowly decrease around midnight. Also they are forecasting heavy rain until about midnight.
We are pretty exposed to the North and it blows onto the stern (back) of Vida so directly hits the canvas back of the wheelhouse.
Generally we try to avoid being here when it gusts much over 40mph as it gets so noisy and the boat shakes quite a lot which makes it very tiring.
However, despite the storm coming in as we worked, we managed to finish fibre glassing the port knees for the main mast cap shrouds. Jane was mixing the resin and wetting the fibreglass in the cockpit while keeping the rain off with her back!
Earlier in the day Jane finished the undercoating of the remaining mast parts (Mizzen mast repair, mizzen boom, mizzen spreaders and main spreaders). We had moved them all (except the mizzen mast) inside the clubhouse due to the weather.
Despite the storm we are staying tonight in the hope that we can get all the top coats applied to these mast parts tomorrow. Then home leaving the mizzen mast very close to being able to be put up.
