More rail sanded and sealed with Semco. I realize that this is pretty much heresy for a Hinckley, but I simply cannot imagine going back to the eight coats of varnish with maintenance every six months and still eventually having to wood out and begin again. Happily there are yacht owners who wave their checkbooks and varnish happens. I will be happy to admire it.

The position for the new hatch is thus. I will glass a frame in like the forward hatch and build a teak and acrylic hatch to match the original. It will have gas springs.

The boat is completely level, and I left spots on the bow, amidships, and at the stern where the bottom of the old bootstripe remains visible. I used the water tube to level from port to starboard and a laser level to get bow to stern. The laser was then used to tick a line from the bow to stern. The level is attached to the container on the right with built-in magnets. Marking the waterline was an anticlimax compared to getting the boat level within less than 1/16 inch. That took about three hours.