I am making progress, finally, and it is true harmony!

For three months the mast was down and the boat was a work in frustration, sweat and expletives. And blood. Lot’s of blood. My blood. From where I smashed my thumb with a hammer, to when I almost drove the Dremel blade through my hand, to the too many to count cuts, scraps and no-clue how or why I started bleeding from a random extremity… I have literally shed enough blood to make Sine Metu a relative!

From the new teak and the refurbished bronze stemhead to new 316 stainless steel chainplates and duel lowers, to massively overbuilt backing plates made from 3/8″ thick G10 plates, epoxied into place, the new standing rigging is solid.

The electric drive system is fully installed and, so far, I have about eight hours of time running it in the slip and all around Shelter Island here in San Diego Bay. The wiring needs to be cleaned up a bit, but that’s for my esthetics and not for the Coast Guard. It’s a solid install, but not pretty enough to show off. As a DIYer, I’m more function than fashion.

But the main thing is this — the mast is up, the new boom is installed and the Lazy Jacks have been fitted! Next week the new mainsail from Ullman Sails will be raised for the first time with someone from the local loft being present to make sure everything is good to go.

I’ve found that I enjoy rope work like splicing and rigging control lines. There’s harmony in bringing order to the tangles.

I would like to thank all of the vendors that helped me make this possible:

• Rigworks – standing and running rigging and for the Profurl C290 roller-furler.
• Harrison Marine – metalwork and sheaves
• Ullman Sails – sails
• Downwind Marine – parts, parts and more parts
• West Marine – the go-to place for those need-it-now parts
• Island Nautical Enterprises, Inc. – for the aluminum spreaders
• McMaster-Carr – for raw materials
• Allied Titanium.