cleats, spring

From port to starboard are the cleats for the topping lift, jib halyard, main throat halyard and main peak halyard.  These are the old cleats for the dock lines, which were really too small to handle dock lines and were originally meant for halyards in the first place (until I ran out of money for proper deck cleats).  They should be just right for the halyards.  I will think about their positioning for a few days before fastening into place.

I had to search for the photograph below to remember how I positioned the smaller cleats, the image reminding me that I had the halyards coming on the inboard side of each cleat.

I smile when I see the shiny hardware and bright white lines.  This was taken on the day Spartina was first launched in 2006.  The lines, even with off-season washing, are no longer white and the hardware will never be that shiny again.

My friend Jim, who is building a navigator, showed me how to coil the lines and hang them from the cleats, a nice neat trick to keep things in order.  The horns on the smaller cleats, the ones in the photo above, were too small and after bouncing around on the chop the coils often slipped off the cleats and fell into a small mess on the bunk flat below.  The larger cleats should hold the coils better.  

The new cleats for the dock lines, which you can see here, are burnished bronze.  From the price I paid I would have thought they were made of gold.

Signs of the coming spring: temperatures in the 70's today, warm enough for a fifth winter coat of varnish; buds on the trees; an email from Stuart at Dabbler Sails telling my the new sails are finished.  

The temperature will drop back down to the 30's and 40's in a day or so, the buds will not blossom for weeks.  

I should have the new sails in hand in a few days.

steve