Fantastic week for sailing around here. Light to moderate winds from mostly the north west. Comfortable temperatures too. I don't usually care for land breezes, they're so shifty but this lovely weather has been so sweet. In the morning I've been doing some varnishing in Bristol Harbor followed by some sailing in Mt. Hope Bay on Neena, tough life, I tell you what. A couple of lovely boats in Bristol harbor, an early Hinckley Pilot in fiberglass and a Concordia yawl.
Any way, here's some pictures of Neena sailing herself with a tiller line with surgical tubing at each end attached to snap hooks attached to strap eyes on the coamings. I have carry some luff in the main for balance but who cares.

Spring 2015 work

Pulled the leaking aluminium fuel tank out and found some pin holes and corrosion on the bottom due to some water that found it's way in below the tank from a leak in the strbd. bilge board trunk. Cleaned it up, sanded and applied some JB weld epoxy putty to the bad looking spots. Cleaned, sanded and painted the locker that holds the tank and then plumbed it back in place.
Next I removed and rebuilt the cockpit locker hatch coamings which were leaking into the lkrs. due to old dried up bedding. I rebedded them with some goop and back fastened with ss # 8's.
I built and installed a coaming for the access hatch in the cockpit sole and removed the false sole only to find a spongy and de-laminating sole. Oh well, for now I installed a couple of beams underneath and added a post too, which seems sturdy enough for now and I gained 3/4 of an inch of cockpit depth not to mention no more leaks from the cockpit. I'm also building a hatch for the access hatch coaming, all out of ash, which I seem to have alot of and if I treat it with some thing, should last.
I discovered that the used tiller head fitting I bought on E-bay last winter, is deformed enough that the tiller is off center by several degrees which was annoying, sailing last summer. Instead of buying a very expensive new part, I realized I could modify a fatter brass key to effectivly move the tiller fitting slightly to starboard in relation to the rudder shaft and all's right.
While It was snowing non-stop, I added reefs to the two sails on the dinning room floor with help from a book or two and Sail Rite. Hopefully my guess work as to location and angles will be close enough, we'll see.
Next up are filling and glassing the repairs on the two trunks, new and reconditioned bilge board pivot bolts, re-attaching pennants and re-installation of the bilge boards themselves. Last summer, besides leaks, the boards wouldn't go down all the way. Upwind sailing should improve.
The first mate would like a few improvements made in the galley area, along with some more paint here and there.
Still plenty to do before launching some time in June.

Neena's second season so far ( late July)

Well here it is late July and we're ready for some cruising. Everything is more or less working and shipshape. Neena's been in since late May. We launched her at a state ramp in Bristol from R.I. Boat Hauler's Brownell style trailer. My brother -in-law Bob helped me raise the masts, with my A frame and a couple of three part tackles. Piece of cake. Then off I motored after bleeding the Yanmar again.

                                   
                                      

The changes I made to the rig have helped her sail a little better. By bringing the triatic down to what would have the forestay point on the mainmast, helps open up the mainsail leech and an adjustable backstay also helps with shaping the main.
When the breeze gets to 13 or 14 knots I can reef the Main now which balances the helm and by flattening the sails, she won't heel too much, keeping the helm light.
Phoebe and I have done a couple of over nighters and our living arrangements seem o.k. The ice box is easier to use since I made the lid open to a latch above it to hold it open for rummaging with out losing any limbs. My small folding table is a hit with my journalist too.
The bilge board trunk leak was fixed but in fooling around with the starboard one this spring, I created a drip! Oh well, I have to drop them again this winter to replace the turning blocks any way. The boards still won't go down all the way on their own. I'm not sure why, maybe too much paint near the pivot bolts? I also suspect the boards where lengthened at some point from 5 to 6 feet. I know I'm not done with making the whole system work smoothly. All this board stuff must have an affect on helm balance. Phil Bolger says I need a bigger Main with a deep reef and a small jib to carry till it's luff sags too much then bring in the jib, reef the main and sail on as a cat ketch.

We must be getting old because our favorite new old feature is the bimini. So nice to be out of the middle of the day sun.