Niagara has a foredeck again! We installed our shutter plank (the last plank to be fastened in place; also affectionately called the whiskey plank) this afternoon. It’s a little weird to have a deck again. Now we actually have to open the forepeak hatch to do our brig checks, instead of just shimmying down between the deck beams.
The starboard waterway timber is almost back in place, and there are two new pinrails sitting in the woodshop, waiting to be fastened in. Andros is busy shaping the starboard fore channel. The rig shop crew is putting the forestay horse collars (used to attach the forestays to the bowsprit) back together. Since we’ll be hiring a crane to put the bowsprit and foremast back in place, we’re “dressing” both of them while they’re still on the plaza–basically, we want to uprig as much as possible while everything is conveniently on the ground. The summer crew arrives on March 28, so the race to the sailing season is definitely on!
Drew and Amy, working on the waterway timber.