Another week closer to departure. That is what I keep telling myself even as the projects seem to increase on a weekly basis. This week we discovered that, although the keel bolts are in passable shape, the mast step is not. The mast step is a giant piece of steel that the mast stands on. It takes the brunt of the pressure that the wind exerts on the mainsail, so it’s kind of important. Certainly not something we want to worry about on the trip. In order to remove it for replication, we had to pull the mast. It’s not exactly what we wanted to hear a week into it, especially since each day is costing a whole lot of money. But at least the task itself wasn’t quite so difficult. It actually took less time than it took us to clean the bilge (7 days!).

Aside from that, the days of hard labor are actually quite rewarding. It’s certainly taking the place of a gym membership. New Year’s resolution #1 (get in shape): check! It’s painful, but the climbing into and hoisting out of the boat is really kicking me into shape, not to mention balancing on one hand and three toes while squatting/leaning down into the bilge to sand, scrub, and chisel for 7 hours a day (Brian calls it boat yoga). And our days have fallen into a pleasant routine ending with the cooking of delicious home-cooked meals with lots of leftovers for the next day’s lunch. It’s reminding me a great deal of my time in AmeriCorps*NCCC. It’s funny how a day of hard work makes everything so much more enjoyable. Food tastes so much better, beer tastes so much better, massages feel like heaven, and sleep is that much more replinishing. No one can say we didn’t work for it!