This past weekend provided a great deal of inspiration. I was in Galveston to teach a course on paleotempestology for a group of science teachers, a project sponsored by the University of Texas. We stayed at the Tremont, a lovely and historic hotel. I managed to spend all of Sunday before the class began trolling the marinas in Kemah for ideas and inspiration. So many terrific sailboats!This Saturday I found time to cut holes in the deck, and to tack the port chainplates in place. The next steps will be to bog them in from the top to fill in the gaps and then to lay in a lot of glass below decks to attach them to the hull. This is not an ordeal if I have a proper work surface set up, precut all the pieces, lay them out in sequence, light the area properly, and drape everything that might catch a drip. The process that is a pain is grinding the hull in preparation. I put a large exhaust fan in the forward hatch, suit up including full face mask, and prep with my small Milwaukee grinder. It fits into tight areas much better than does the large grinder.
