I made the remaining thumb cleats, jam cleats and fairleads needed just in time to be varnished along with the spars.
I also rounded out the base of all of them that would be attached to a spar, so that they are seated well.
I also made a copper 6 gauge wire lock for the boomkin brace.
It rained for a couple days so I moved all the varnishing inside and kept the fan running to help the drying process.
I’ve also been holding on to pre-1996 pennies that have a high copper content for precisely this use. It is kind of fun to put in some centennial pennies somewhere were they will continue to be admired.
Then onto making rope strops for the blocs while I wait for the varnish to dry.
This was a super satisfying moment to see this come together into fully functional blocks. This fiddle block with two eyes was the most complex of them all.
The dyneema is easy to work with and is so stiff that getting everything snug and tight was relatively easy.
I have home made, blocks for the main, jib and mizzen as well as the jib halyard.
Today is the eve of my self imposed launch deadline. So I also started doing all the leathering on the spars.
Tomorrow will be a full day preparing for the launch at the Jericho Sailing Centre. My hope is to be ready by 4pm. I still have to splice the eyes for the halyards, the gaff span and leather the mizzen and boomkin. Then I think the last job will be lashing the sails on and running all the halyards and sheets.
Gwendal, you are a master craftsman, it is so impressive to follow the detail of your work.
Can’t wait for the launch . . .