24 small things was done in 2 weekend days Radar installed Mast Check mast longitudinal angle. Portside lower shrouds - fix pin on spreaders root. during stepping mast up pin holding lowers on port side slide out of the intended position. I had to easy lowers and push it back to place. Install VHF antenna and test SWR - (Measured SWR 1.3). Just put antenna back to place. Install radar to the mast. Simple, but it the bracket appeared slightly deformed and rear holes ended up not aligned and i had to drill them out to provide some gaps and be able to put bolts in. Other challenge - lift Radar to the mast safely, but it is round and has no features to tie rope to it ;-) Install ring camera to radar mount. Drilled 3 holes and riveted mounting plate for Ring camera to be able to observe what is going on on the docks, especially when really bad weather hits. Put mainsail and sail pack back to the boat. Just put them back and connected the pack lazy jack back up to the m...
Over the past three months, I’ve gone through probably the biggest and toughest sprint of my boat rebuild journey to finally bring Vira to big water. I worked almost nonstop — nearly every weekend, plus quite a few Mondays and Fridays — at the boatyard. Even on the days I wasn’t there, I was busy preparing parts, tools, and plans for the next trip. The boat is now about 150 miles from my home, which meant driving between Austin and Houston 11 times — around 3,300 miles total. Over the last three months, I’ve spent 24 full days working on the boat. Now I’ve decided to slow down a bit and spend the next two weekends at home with family and friends. Going forward, I don’t plan to be at the boat every single week. Most likely I’ll switch to a bi-weekly schedule, but spend full weekends there instead. Let’s see how this balance works out for me and my family.