Well, another week gone by and another week closer to our departure date. We both got more done on the boat, but have realized that we and the boat are ready to leave at any time. The projects that remain are projects that can be done at any time and are not crutial to our departure. Anyway, here’s the list of what we got done this week.

Companionway Door Hinges - Replaced the hinges on the companionway doors as they were on the verge of breaking and the doors didn’t close properly. Though we found new hinges of the same style, the hole pattern for the screws were not the same. Because of the different hole pattern, the old holes were filled with a small dowel and epoxy, then new holes were drilled. With the new hinges the doors now close as they should.

Removed Staysail Boom - After much debate, we decided to remove the staysail boom for our hanked on staysail. In making this decision, we decided that for us the pros out weighed the cons. By removing the staysail boom we gained so much more space on the fore deck, we no longer have to worry about the boom being in the way of the anchor windlass handle and we feel that the fore deck is much safer without the boom. We do acknowledge that we will loose some performance by having a loose footed staysail, but it is a minimal loss that we are willing to accept (Harken’s web site states about a 10% loss in performance). The staysail is not a huge performance sail on the Hans Christian 33 so we feel confident in our decision. Another factor in our decision making is reading about all the other HC33 owners on the Hans Christian Owners Association message board that have done the same thing. With the help of the technical pages on Harken’s web site we were able to keep the staysail as a self tending sail so no other major modifications were needed (IE. new tracks, winches ect.). We had considered roller furling for the staysail but decided against it not only because of the expense, but by having a hanked on staysail we can easily make sail changes with our smaller staysail or with a storm sail.

Made Staysail bag - David used his skilled talents to make a sail bag for the now boom-less staysail.

Polished Stainless Steel - Polished the stainless steel handrails, dorades, and stanchions this week.

Calibrate New Autopilot - David and I took Bruadair out this week to calibrate the new Navman G-Pilot below deck autopilot system. On our way out of Clear Lake we stopped and fueled up as it had been about 8 months since we last got fuel, took on 26 gallons. Once we were past the Kemah Boardwalk and in Galveston Bay we very easily and quickly completed the calibration process on the new autopilot. I was very impressed with the ease of the calibration process, and more so with the way the autopilot worked. The winds were 15 knots with slightly choppy waters, so I’m anxious to see if it performs as well in more challenging winds and seas. After we calibrated the autopilot, we decided to do some sailing since we were already out there. It was an enjoyable sail with pleasant weather, a great way to spend the rest of the afternoon.

Genoa Sail - The genoa was taken to Mark at Bank Sails to have the sunbrella cover re-stitched and inspected. Took a day to get back, and all is well. Mark did say however that we probably will want to look at replacing the sail in a couple years, but at least it’s good for now. Next is to take in the main sail.