Mast in boat, re-epoxy-ing, and neat turtles

So, I've been pre-occupied recently with other events, namely, my impending return to work after some serious back-rehab (phys. therapists = good), some life events, and so on and so forth.  So, this is good.  I'm broke, my back is better (which means I can actually do some work in the hull as opposed to just staring at the bottom of the boat), and springtime is coming.

One harbinger of spring is the emergence of turtles through their long torpor and into the light once again.  Today I ran into this chap, a Blanding's Turtle which is actually considered endangered in New Hampshire.  They don't mate until their late teens, and they can live to around 80.  Anyway, I moved this guy for a photo-op only to later find out they're endangered in NH, so I feel like an ass, but I treated him gently and placed him back right back where I found him.  Actually, this could be a her, I should find out.  Handsome, regardless:

 

I will report this to the Dept. of Fish and Game, they keep track of this stuff.  I also reported a Bobcat that came trundling through my yard two days ago.  That, was neat, but it was too quick and I have no photo.  Sorry.

ON TO THE YACHT!

With the mast all built, I tapered the base per the plans.  If you remember, I made the mast slightly larger than the plans called for, not much, just 1mm here and there, but it affected the fit in the mast partner and step, and those had to be enlarged.  This was not a big deal, it's only a little bit and if you may recall, intrepid reader, I made the stock of the partner and step bigger than called for.  So I feel safe doing this.  Here is my great friend Matt, recently returned from Overseas Adventures Extra-Ordinaire doing his duty, and helping me out at the annoying task of rasping the mast partner larger.  Welcome home:

He did a most fantastic job.  Then I ruined it.

After some rasping and Dremel-ing the heck out of the mast step, we got the mast stepped:

I offer you many vantage points.  The overhead is kind of neat.

The mast is currently being fiberglass-taped right now, two tapes at the base, two at the top, and two amidships, one covering the single knot in the lumber.

Also being worked on is the hull.  I sanded the epoxy coating I gave it the other day, and added a third coat.  This was a technique I stumbled upon doing my BH's.  If I sanded and then added a last coat, it came out super smooth.  I'm hoping for the same with the hull, especially since the I'm trying to get the fiberglass tape down smooth.  After aggressive sanding, I'm thinking the extra coat will fill up to the gap.  Here she is, sanded:

So next up, I have to figure out the rudder hardware problem.  This is worthy of another post.  I cannot, for the life of me, get my rudder hardware figured out, and it's beginning to piss me off.  By hardware I mean what attaches the rudder stock to the transom.  Some gudgeons are too small, others are too big, I'm going nuts.  Also, I have to figure out what to do with my daggerboard trunk.  It needs to be, literally 1mm wider, and I don't know how to do that.  A lot of glue, maybe? when I glue it together?  These are two items that are holding me up.  Also, I have to epxoy coat the inside of the boat, with nice weather finally on its way, there shouldn't be a hold-up.  I really want the hull ready for paint when and if I get some time off from work to come back home.  If I'm home for 24 hours, I want to be able to get mucho stuff done.  So that is what I'm staging for right now.