So, it’s been raining pretty much for two days straight. Three if you count Saturday a little bit.

I’ve been dealing with internal leaks since yesterday when the rain started coming down steady. Think I have the leak narrowed down to the cock pit seating, which is the only deck teak left on the boat. I’m going to clean it up, clean the surrounding area, dry it and caulk around the seat, then seal the wood at Kurt’s suggestion.

Speaking of Kurt, he drove down from his home area yesterday to collect a sail I gave him. A spinnaker, which in my humble, novice sailor’s opinion, will NEVER be used by me alone on this boat and I don’t foresee a need with a crew (if we’re crossing the Atlantic, I doubt seriously if a light sail will be necessary at any time). I can’t see me using it in the South Pacific, because as much as I’d like to go there, I don’t see that happening for a lot of years now. haha

So he brought us an air conditioner unit we can use at a dock or without generator if necessary when we get to Florida. I can promise it will get use much more than a spinnaker would be used.

Mean time, JoAnne decided to make beer. Not regular, just any old beer that we’ve made before. She decided to make ginger beer! I can’t wait to try that stuff out. However, I was working in the cockpit earlier and had to yell down that she was breaking a cardinal rule for beer making. You’re supposed to be making beer while drinking beer. I never got a beer, and I don’t think she bothered either.

On to the Winches (I’ve already discussed Beer, so it’s time for Winches). Yeah, you caught the spelling too, huh? Not THOSE kinds of Wenches. The WINCHES.

The starboard jib sheet winch wasn’t right for some reason and I’d noticed it was not turning by hand easily after the accident. I didn’t really consider it, but the sheet was wrapped around the winch when the accident happened. The thing was jammed pretty badly and when I removed the cap from the top and tapped on the winch drum, the device “popped” loudly and everything started spinning again.

But, since I was already taking it apart, I grabbed a bucket, some rags, mineral oil and some other items and tore into the winch, disassembling it all the way down. Took me a couple hours to completely clean it and put it all back together with oil in the right places, grease in the other right places and man it works well now!

Too bad Wenches and Winches aren’t spelled the same, this might have been a better story. 🙂