Ballad Exchange

Hello All,

I hope I am not boring everyone with my weekly postings, if I am my sincere apologies.

We have finally posted photos in the picture section of our work to date I hope you will look at them and welcome your comments.  The hull work is finished except for accent stripes (which will be done with tape), and the third and final coat of bottom paint which we won't apply until four or five days before launch.

The deck has been stripped of all hardware and fittings and is ready to be worked on.  There will be some minor filling of holes where hardware had been previously attached and later moved, some repair work in areas that have undergone repair in the past with the deck hardware left in place then surface preparation and painting.  We intend to paint the deck in two colors:  off white on the smooth surfaces and light grey on the non-skid areas,  I think this gives a very attractive appearance to the deck and greatly reduces glare.

We will be running all control lines to the cockpit and as we are replacing the original primary winches with new self-tailing ones (I believe self-tailing winches are truly one of the great inventions of all time) are considering using the original Lewmar twin 40's as the cabin top winches (if space allows) and leaving the mast mounted winches in place.  This will give us the option of handling the rigging fom either the cockpit or mast location as conditions allow as well as provide extra power at the cockpit line controls to compensate for the additional drag from routing the control lines and assist crew members with limited arm strength (like old men such as myself).

Your comments, suggestions and criticism, as always, are welcome and appreciated.

Fair winds all.

Mark Smith
"The Vagabond Dreamer"