Metals, Meticulous Methodology and a Man Crush...

Why is this man smiling? He is similing because he got to have an "I told you so" moment. He loves those moments.

 While undertaking the rebedding of the portlights, Mark was of the opinion that while the stainless steel frames were in good shape, they were something less than pristine. I was of the opinion that so long as they were rust free and water tight they were functioning as intended and we should just get them rebedded because how much of a difference would laborously polishing every nook and cranny of the frames make? In 2 weeks time they would once again have water spots. Mark lives for perfection, so of course he carefully took all the frames apart and carefully polished and inspected every centimeter.

 Here we see him gleefully showing me that polishing by machine does in fact make a difference. Our boat might have plastic covering the holes where the portlights ought to be but man- are those portlights going to be shiny when they are bedded. For 2 days...

While Mark handles the hands on work, I am in charge of research. You'd think that with the hundreds of how to books on the market that every question you could possibly ask would have been answered. You would be wrong. This is where online sailing communities fill in the gaps. I'm in charge of online discussion/research for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Mark is not as quick a reader as I am. Secondly, and most importantly Mark finds the necessary online sorting of opinions to be impossibly tedious.

Here's the thing about online communities- for every one sailor/adventurer who has a clue you have to sort through 100 opinions from people who have no freaking grip on reality. Planning on going cruising with kids on a sailboat? You'll get 50 people who will tell you you will die a horrible, watery death (these people like to make sailing sound like a deathly proposition in order to thrill the guys at their local watering hole on Friday nights), 40 people who will say "Great! Just bring some duct tape", 9 people who will tell you your boat sucks (because they don't have one, nor have they ever) and then the 1 person who will say that yes, your plans while challenging are doable and you probably won't die or scar your children for life. It can be a task to find that one voice of reason.

I like to ask questions. This is how I learn best. When Mark and I are flummoxed by a needed repair, I can go and ask questions and I know which peeps are duffers and which ones have a good handle on what to do and how to do it. Usually, Mark will narrow his eyes suspicously because being such a Left Brain, it is rare that a person will conduct repairs  in a Mark like, laser precisie manner. Which brings me to Mark's Man Crush.

It started with a discussion as to how to properly bed deck hardware. I knew from time online, the one guy in all the world who does things the way Mark likes things to be done- carefully, with precision and do it over and over until it is perfect. His online nickname is MaineSail. Mark was suspicious until I showed him MaineSail's online how to galleries. It was love at first click for Mark. "Now that is how you do a proper job!". I was right. Thanks to me, Mark has found his online, refit soul mate. Since I will never, ever document how we effect repairs in as thorough a manner as MaineSail (being a Right brain and easily distracted by butterflies) I'll just post a link here. If you want to know how to do things 'properly" here is the place find out how. MaineSail's Boat Projects Mark puffy heart loves his galleries.

And now for some portlight polishing pictures...WHEEE!