tented

The good ladies from the canvas shopped arrived this morning with smiles and a bundle of fabric.  

It was a tense putting on the tent for the first time, initially not seeming to fit quite right but with a series of adjustments to purchase points and support lines everything fell into place.  These photographs were taken while adjustments were still being made, but you get the idea - the tent looks good and I think it will keep my dry and comfortable for a long time to come.

I don't have the photographs to show it - I was under a bit of a time crunch - but the main part of the tent reaches up forward on either side of the four lines coming down onto the foredeck - two main halyards, jib halyard and topping lift - and attaches to a foredeck mounted ring just behind the bow sprit.  From that same purchase point a fly reaches up to just above the gaff jaws on the main mast and spreads to either side of the main tent and attaches with snap.  On windy, rainy nights this will minimize water coming in through the front of the tent.

Yes, there is a gap between the tent and the fly, but with the flaked main above and the fly forward I think a minimal amount of water will find its way into Spartina.  We'll see.  In any case it will be much more effective than the old polytarp tent (and should be for the price).

I will still have all of the options I had before:  no tent, tent, tent with fly, and for those nights when rain is a "maybe" I can put the tent in place, folding back the forward corners and folding forward the aft corners so there's plenty of fresh air and the ability to close up the tent quickly should rain arise.

Next time I sail I'll bring the tent along and, just for practice, put it in place and see how it feels.