What a lucky guy!

[Paul]

Sorry Alan, no sailing yet but how lucky can one guy be.
1. Got my mast wiring done - and all lights work. Added a new masthead, foredeck and led for the Windex. But that's not the lucky part.
2. Welder called and the rudder post & cheeks are nearly done. Yea! But still this has taken a long time.
3. Went to the boat yesterday to make one final measurment to build hard stands to drop the keel. Gave the pin cover one umph with a 10" pipe wrench and it came right off!
4. Finished building the hard stands this morning. Dropped the tongue and got the first under the transom and fastened in place. I built a sled under the keet that traps it in its vertical position. A good hard pull on the keel pin and it came out looking like it has never been used!

Now I have to wait until tues evening to get the brackets out but so far it looks like brand new items.

Oh, and thanks to the person who mentioned the aft stands wanting to move when you lift the trailer tongue. They did, I watched for it, and a potential disaster was averted.

Paul

[Mario G]

Hey Paul it sounds like your comming along great. Do you thing you will be sailing soon?

[Paul]

I've decided I can sail until the water turns to slush since I trailer each time. The high altitude lakes freeze first (Dillon @ 9,000+, Grand Lake @ 8,000, etc). Being down low (5,000') we should be good until Nov or Dec. Then it's ice fishing time.

[Jmckamey]

Hello Paul. My family and I took a trip out west this summer and drove by Grand lake.(had breakfast there actually). What a beautiful place. We saw a couple of sailboats out and were very jealous. Good luck with the keel work. Jeff

[Paul]

Weekend update: Got the boat raised and the keel on a sled on the trailer. Used rachet tie downs to slide the keel & sled back. Marked the location of the sled so it can be put back. The top of the keel is still in the pocket so it can't fall over. The nuts came off, the bolts came out easily and the brackets are in my garage ready for the wire wheel. Brackets appear to be in very good shape and were well sealed to the inside of the pocket, but there was no sealer over the bolt heads.

OK, OK... I have pictures, and even opened an account with photo bucket, but would you believe it, my usb ports went dead on my computer so the pictures are stuck in my camera

Who was it - someone in our group - who said, "If you can't fix it with a hammer, it must be an electrical problem!!!" I'll post as soon as I get the electrons going the right direction.

[Alanhod]

Now that's a GOOD sailing story. Keel and pin cme out easy as kiss my hand, parts look like new. That's a good days work any day of the week. Keep the updates coming and any new things learned in the process!

Thanks
Alan