Day 97 You can't take it with you!

A fast day.  Met with the boat yard manager early to see about the transmission mechanic.  He came by later in the day while we were in meetings with Brion.  Knows what type of transmission it is and is seeking out a service center of seller if we need a new one.  Guess we will see about that in a few days.

The electrician went at it again today.  Lots of new wires and connections.  He's says he is only a day behind the schedule he set for himself.  He just keeps saying "my that is interesting" with every new board he lifts in the floor.  Lots of new connections and holes drilled for their installation.  All in good time.

They stripped the mast of her fitting this morning and hauled it over to the shop.  Now just a big blue pole.  We will need to have two spreaders replaced as there are cracks in them.  They can't be welded as the cracks are where they were welded before.  Brion (the rigger) gave us his survey report this morning for our review and met with us this afternoon to go over what he had found and what he was suggesting.  Over all, the fittings on Zephyr are good.  He was surprised that the condition of the mast.  Apparently, our mast--made in France--sometimes isn't in good condition depending on what day of the week it was made.  Monday is hangover day and Friday is get ready for the weekend day.  Most in between days are fine.  It also depends on the grinding from a local foundry in France that will sometimes contaminate the castings if the wind blows from the direction of the foundry.  Go  figure.

Our meeting went well with lots of suggestions of things we can do that will make sailing Zephyr a dream.  New lines and new blocks.  Several changes in how the rigging is done with the addition of double forestays.  That's the wires that hold the mast up at the front of the boat.  One will have the roller furled genoa on it and the second will take the place of the cutter rig.  That's the rig that is half way between the mast and the forestay.  Now both will be at the forestay.  The new one can be removed when necessary.  The list is long and numerous with lots of new stuff.  He has set his sights on August 23 as a completion date.  Guess we will see.

We took our main and genoa in to Carol Hasse Sails for inspection.  She will be checking them for any deterioration  and advise us as to what needs to be done to bring them in line with what we plan on doing--off shore sailing.

The cockpit dodger gets removed tomorrow for a redo.  New zippers and stitching where needed.  We were lucky enough to get a slot in her schedule.  She knows we are on a tight time frame to get heading South before the weather changes.

By the time we are done, Zephyr will be a better boat than she already is.

Tomorrow--get more of the winches done.  With all our meetings today, I got almost one done.  Just needs  cleaning with soap and water and then oil and grease.  Another day.