ten degrees, 100 #12 screws

What I would have given for just ten more degrees or maybe a little less wind today.  Skies have been sunny all day, but on the backside of the New England blizzard it has been chilly and surprisingly windy.  Had there been less wind or had it been a little warmer I might have put another coat of varnish on Spartina.  But both cold and windy I did not want to take a chance.  (When I first built Spartina I put a coat of varnish on the coaming on a cool damp day.  I have not forgotten the hours I spent scraping that varnish, which did not set well, off of the boat.)  

Instead, looking at my list of winter jobs I experimented with the new trailer lights, something I had put off because I don't enjoy running the new wiring harness through the frames of the trailer.  But with the old harness wires, a couple of bits of string and a coat hanger I was able to run the wires.

These lights will be mounted high on the trailer's guide posts where they will be both more visible and hopefully longer lasting as they won't be submerged in salt water when launching and retrieving the boat.  I still need to work on the pvc guide posts and finish the wiring with wire caps filled with silicon sealer.  That should be an easy afternoon job that I'll get to after I'm done painting.

And I have always wondered why I had the 100 count box of #12 silicon bronze screws in tool closet.  I found out today as I put the old dock line cleats on the foredeck as halyard and topping lift cleats.  A lot of the old screw were in rough shape and I was happy to find the one-half full box of brand new screws without having to run to the hardware store or, worse, West Marine.

Three weeks to meet my early March deadline for being ready to sail - give me a couple of warm days for painting and I'm there.

steve