Under Cover Schooner

Good morning everyone. We have a rainy drizzly day on our hands today. The crew will be out here in Appleton working in the barn on a few final miscellaneous painting projects. Mary will be aboard painting cabin thresholds and I will be working in the bilges today finalizing a new fire pump installation. The last minute details are many but we are in good shape for our annual Coast Guard inspection on Monday at noon. We even have the awnings set as you can see in the picture. Of course if you're a loon you don't need an awning.

Becki, Sara, and I finished rigging the main and fore peak and throat halyards yesterday. That just about finishes the rigging work aloft. The lesson of the entire rigging process these last few days is the "devil is in the details." One shackle put in the wrong place, one line lead unfairly, one missing cotter pin, one block put together incorrectly during "Blockfest" 2 months ago, and the entire process comes to a screeching stop. We were musing about how many places on earth that lack of attention to detail can have such a big impact.

All this goes back to what I was saying yesterday about seeing ourselves in the bigger picture of life. Thoreau must have been thinking about sailing ships when he made his wonderful analogy, something to the effect, that when we pull on one string in nature we find it connected to everything else. I often remind the crew of Bill Cosby's humorous recounting of the conversation between God and Noah, indignant about having to build an Ark to God's specifications, when God pointedly asked Noah how long he could tread water. I think about it from my modern perspective and often mention how much I hate to fill out paperwork for the Coast Guard.

Have a great day. Be well. Do good.

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