I was ready to push to have the boat out of the shed this fall. So September started well with the finis of the painting of the ruder, centreboard and hatches.

and the hull

I then tackled putting Deks Olje on the benches

And similarly cover the floors as well with Deks Olje

Because I had it drying overnight outside I found out I had the visit of some raccoons while I was away.

Finally putting all of it back into the boat started to feel really good. Although it takes a bit longer than I imagined.

The rudder and the Norwegian tiller also looked nice all glossy with the Deks Olje.

Then as fall wore on and I felt I was getting close to being ready to transferring the boat to the trailer I started to finish the sunbrella storage cover.

I added shafing panels and instead of grommets along the periphery I used E-Z Lace Supreme Webbing which can be stitched on and is much simpler an more versatile than grommets.

I then built a frame to tent the cover and protect the boat from rain.

I also bedded the chocks and the cleats I made out of reclaimed cherry wood.

And set up all the toggles to hold down the floorboards that make them removable to access the plugs and possibly to store some water or sand balast below.

Finally I stitched together a dozen sand bags to weigh down the edges of the cover so that I don’t have to rely on straps as much to keep a constant tension when the boat is in storage.

And then just as I called a bunch of friends to help me lift the boat onto the trailer and make room for the spar making… New COVID-19 restrictions came into force and I had to call it off. I’ll have to wait a little longer to get it out closer to the water in the boat yard.