The propane furnace is fully installed. Here is a picture of what it looked like before the repair guy had the phalange made and this is what it looks like now that he is done. Yeah!!!

Yesterday we figured out how to install the third reef lines for our mainsail. The boom was set up for two reefs that the lines from the tack of the main sail run inside the mast, but not for a third reef. We decided rather than run another line in the mast and run it back to the cockpit; we would keep this line outside the boom. If you are going to have to put in a third reef you are going to have to go up to the mast to do it. We have made sure that both the clew and the tack of the reef are secured on the same side of the mast so you won’t have to muck about on either side of the mast to put in the third reef.

The reason we decided not to run the lines back to the cockpit is that we don’t think there is enough room to run any more lines back. We have the main sheet, two reef lines from the clew, and two reefs lines from the tack, the main halyard, the vang line and two traveler lines, that makes 9 lines into the cockpit. We may have to rethink this once we actually get into a situation where we have to put in a third reef, but we will just have to see.

Barry also got the spinnaker pole off the deck. The one end was seized on and no amount of hammering, or WD40 would shake it free. He actually had to remove the spinnaker deck fitting to get the thing off. It was the thing that you pull back on the spinnaker pole that would not come off, so Barry took a hacksaw to it and got it off the fitting. We put the deck fitting back on today, but have not decided how to tackle the spinnaker end. We have not used the pole yet, so do not feel the need to rush into a decision about what we need. Barry is talking about a new whisker pole and I am all for trying to fix the old spinnaker pole. I think we should get an estimate on how much it would take to fix it and decide after that.

We want to go sailing up to Desolation Sound. The guy to fix the radio was here, but was not able to complete the job. He will be here on Friday to finish fixing it, after waiting for 2 ½ months to get a working stereo, I guess I can wait for one more day. It would be nice to have it for our trip. I don’t know HEAT and MUSIC I will think that I am in heaven.

We have a source of heat, hooray!!! The propane heater is installed and working. It seems to give off enough heat to heat up the cabin. It has a window in it so that you can watch the fire flickering, which Barry says adds to the ambiance. We were out sailing yesterday with my brother and my feet got cold so I went downstairs and warmed them up by the heater that was pure luxury. The guy hasn’t finished the installation on the deck yet. The hole from the diesel pipes was too big so he has to build a phalange that will fit the hole and the pipe.

While the fellow was here installing the furnace, Barry fixed the salt water pump. We have two foot pumps in the galley one fresh and one salt. The salt water pump developed a leak in early September; Barry bought a new pump but thought he would have to get a new bottom plate to attach it to the boat because the new pump was a different size than the old one. When he looked at it he figured he would just have to drill a few new holes in the old plate in order to get it attached, so he drilled a few new holes and now the salt water pump is once again a working part of the boat, yahoo!!

On Monday the guy is supposed to come and install the amp that they blew when they were putting in the motor. On Tuesday the phalange is supposed to ready for the pipes for the propane furnace.

Barry repaired the traveler the other day. If you look at the one shot you will see that the traveler is attached to an aluminum bar. The bar was attached to the deck with four bolts in the middle and there was basically nothing holding down the bar at either end. The fiberglass cone is attached with bolts and a backing plate. I have a picture of the backing plates that were underneath the ceiling of the boat. We had to remove the ceiling to get at the backing plates and Barry went and got some 7 “ bolts to bolt on the aluminum bar to the deck. He drilled through the deck and through the existing backing plates and then bolted the aluminum bar into the deck. It should be much more secure now. Let me know if this made sense to you Ian, I am not the most technical person!!!