Good weather abets tackling a wide variety of projects and exercising a sail set.

A lot of different issues were tackled Saturday morning; almost all of them successfully - topped off with a chance to practice real sailor stuff,, like setting a sail.  Here's what went down.

Calvin Milam started in the Forecastle Bilge under the table, separating out old leaking containers, scrubbing out the grime before hosing then drying it out. Next he hauled out the seized up trash pump to disassemble and diagnose its salvage-ability. 

Danny Johnson  hauled the forecastle settee leather cushions on deck for rubbing in some mink oil. 

Tony Marchesani grabbed another mink oil jar and fresh rags and tracked down all the spar and tackle with leather chafing gear to give them a good soaking. 

Danny works mink oil into the leather
 of a forecastle settee cushion.

John Hart, fresh from Picton Castle's Bosun School, set up a station to train a couple of volunteers to turn in an eyesplice and rigging up the two deck buckets with their tie-off ropes

David Brennen started the first and last coats, respectively, of D2 Varnish on the port and starboard side caprail scarves at the main shrouds,, then joined Frank Thigpen at John's eyesplice station to try their hands. 

Frank Thigpen confronted the last two recalcitrant thru-hull ball valves in the engine room that refused to budge. After experimenting with extenders and wrenches, we rediscovered the utility of the long bar/hook normally employed to set the Fire Main/overboard ball valve.  Problem solved.  All thru-hull valves accounted for and exercised. 

John measures out whipping twine
 to secure the strands before
 starting a splice.

Mickell Evatt took on the task of replacing the stretched and torn/ deteriorating leather chafing strips on the transom knees under the Mainsheet. He started a hunt thru the bosun's lockers for sufficient lengths of bull hide, which turned out to be futile. He then came up with the idea of repurposing an old black fender by cutting out of it two long and wide strips to tack down over the old bullhide, effectively doubling its shock/noise dampening capability. 

Meanwhile, Bryan Oliver, armed with a pump valve and diaphram replacement kit, and wide assortment of drivers, sockets, vice-grips, and silicone sealant, disassembled, for the second time the aft cabin head's manual pump, to diagnose its persistent air leak and failure to fill the bowl. It was a small win, but mostly in vain as , while the leaks stopped the pump would still not draw in fill water, in spite of a strong vacuum.   Oh well, better days ahead.

After Hunter's great spaghetti and giant meatball lunch, deckhands secured from all their morning work and  mustered at the foremast.  Taking advantage of a very light breeze, and good weather, we lay forward to raise the Jumbo staysail.  While set, we overhauled the downhaul to run it correctly  thru its turning block back to the cleat, then started rigging up the boon outhaul.  Discovering the pendant to the horse had apparently been cut or separated,  we set it aside for repair, then doused and harbor-furled the sail.