Masted Again

Oswego Marina
N 43 27.073 W 076 30.597

Oh boy it feels good. Tarwathie's mast is back where it should be and we're ready to sail once again tomorrow. Last week, I was contemplating spending more time on the canal since it had been so delightful. When I checked with Libby though she said, "I'm tired of motoring. I want to sail." So we wasted no time, after returning from our baby sitting task, we set right out for Oswego. By noon today the mast was stepped and looking fine. By 15:30 all the rigging and sails were restored to a
seaworthy position. The only task I have undone is to reattach the wires that run up the mast.

My fear in all such operations is that I would not be able to locate the clevis pins, all or some of them. Or that I would drop some in the water when working. It's very easy to do. My fears proved mostly unfounded. All the pins are back where they should be. The only casualty for this mast down - mast up cycle was my switchblade knife. I dropped that in the water this afternoon. Oh well, not bad on the average.

How did we like the baby sitting? It was a nice break. More important, we always enjoy the grandchildren. We swam with them and we took them to the zoo. Everybody had a good time.

Tomorrow, we'll be joined by our grandson, Nick, for a week. We plan on heading to Henderson Harbor for our first anchorage. That is where Libby's family rented summer camps when she was 7 to 12 years old. She has very fond memories of that area, so it should be a real treat to sail there now. The weather promises to be nice. SW winds 10-20 and partly cloudy. There is a fishing tournament headquartered at this marina tomorrow so it will be pretty hectic.

By the way. Posting this blog successfully will demonstrate that our SSB radio is functional once again. I hope it goes OK.