Continuing with ‘Minnow’

Today I posted ‘Minnow’s’ sail to Jeckells for repairs to the head and tack, both of which are badly worn. The measurements of the sail do not match the original sail plan, and I don’t think they are identical to the Mark 2 sail plan. The luff is 250 millimetres shorter than the original, and the foot is 190 millimetres shorter. The head is 140 millimetres shorter. That amounts to a much smaller sail than the Mark 1.

I finished preparing the hatch for painting, and I cleaned all the windows apart from the hatch window. I am unsure about keeping the side windows, because they are not too bad, but at the same time they are not good. The thicker front window is cracked at eight of twenty two bolt holes; therefore I think I should make a new one. Only one of the side windows has a small crack at a bolt hole, but all of them are blemished where paint or epoxy was spilled on them. The washboard window is satisfactory, except I’ll have to put a new piece of wood along the top edge. The old piece is split and part of it is rotten.  The screws fixing the wood to the washboard should be flat head, not countersunk.

Most likely my next job will be removing a large piece of wood from the transom to make room for an outboard bracket. On the other hand, I may attach the bracket to the piece of wood. There are other bits and pieces at the stern of the boat requiring attention, such as the yuloh brackets and the vent. I might take off the lower gudgeon, because I suspect there is ingress of water into the transom where it is attached.

Refitting ‘Minnow’ will take time.