Are We There Yet?

Sid’ brother, Norris, graciously stopped by on July 2 to help repair some rotted wood under the starboard (right) side of the stern (rear) rail of the boat. He also helped with some other little jobs on the boat that were easier with a 2nd pair of hands. Somehow Norris was also persuaded to crawl under the boat (on the trailer in our driveway at the time) to do so further looking/testing of the keel. Sorry I missed getting a photo of that, though I did get some photos of the gents posing and resting. 

Result of looking/testing = concern continues. Recall that the keel is a 600 lb fin that gives stability. Ours swings up for travel and down for in the water. You may have noticed that most sailboats ride very high on their trailers because their keel is fixed. Just in case you can't visualize it, here is a drawing.

Shaded part is the keel, it drops down when one cranks the winch on the left

A neighbor boy, Enrique, also came over. He was kind enough to crawl into one of the tunnels and tighten 8 nuts that were quite difficult for adult-size arms to reach and turn. Thanks, Kikki! We did give him an unexpected thrill when the boat began to tip backwards on the trailer. It's a single-axle trailer. Sid and I have been up and down, on and off the boat repeatedly with no issue. At the time, apparently forgotten, was that the trailer was not hitched to the truck and I was also briefly on the boat in the cabin to check on whether or not some curtains and screens I had made were actually the correct size. Enrique and Sid had just climbed on the boat to begin E's task. I moved toward a window which was located closer to the cockpit (where Sid and Enrique) were. The boat began to tip backward! I had to scramble forward and Sid got off the boat to hitch it to the truck. I wasn't prepared to take photos of our surprised faces, so just imagine. 😲  (Four out of the five items I was checking will work!)

We also noticed quite a pool party going at a neighbor's: lots of cars up and down the street, live music, fireworks, and more. So we tested a foil pack dinner on the boat grill (still on it's land legs), listened to the music, danced on the deck, and listened to more fireworks even after we were in bed. The recipe is a keeper!