A few dozen rafters, a couple hundred feet of PVC pipe, an ocean of very old canvas, and roughly one million lashing lines later, the winter cover is (mostly) up. There’s still some fussing to do, but as of this afternoon, Niagara looks like her winter self.
The rafter framework. Putting up the winter cover in sunny 70 degree weather was weird, but we definitely weren’t complaining.
On deck, midships, enjoying one last bit of natural light before. . .
. . .the canvas goes up! Longtime volunteers Pat and Chuck and apprentice Mikala take a moment to revel in their triumph.
Once the winter cover is squared away, the winter crew will split into two familiar groups: Team Carpentry will start demolition work on board, while the rig shop crew will start taking apart the mainmast assembly; the crosstrees, caps, fighting top, main topmast, and snowmast all need to come off.
As always, muster for our Saturday work party is at 0830. Not only is there cool work to do on the mainmast, but there’s a bag of Oreo churros in the freezer, so you should definitely stop by.
Repair and maintenance to the waterway timber and bulwark planking is made possible by a grant from the Erie Community Foundation.