Spring is in the air...

More work on Vita. Its starting to get to that temperature where I feel guilty if I don't accomplish something.

I took a couple of pictures of the puller I made to take off the prop. Just in case someone was curious. Again, 5/16" plate and 1/2" rod. I think the sides were around 4 3/4", long.

I also made my first tool bag for the boat. I wanted something tough, but small enough that I could slide it into some tight hole for storage. So the following is what I came up with. I made the buttons out of oak dowel, the zipper just came from the local sewing shop, the rope was left over polyester 3 strand from my sail kits, and the bag is made from marine canvas. I'll try it for a while and see how it works. Right now it is carrying my sockets and wrenches. Its 16"x6"x4".

Serena and I managed to get the cutlass bearing out yesterday, but I forgot my camera at home, so I will make a post with pictures when we put it back together. It was a pain in the butt, however it wasn't quite as bad as I thought it might me.

I also started looking at my anchors, because I realized that I wasn't 100% sure what they were. I noticed in an old post that I had wrote one thing, and then on the Bayfield news group I had put something else. So yesterday I weighed them, and tried to figure out exactly what they were.

The stern anchor was easy, its written right on the anchor. It is a Danforth S920, which is a 14 lb anchor. However, when I weighed it, it was only 12 lbs. Perhaps not the best scale, so that may account for the difference.

The primary anchor I thought was a 45 lb CQR. Well, it weighed in at just barely over 40 lbs, and I don't think it is a CQR. It is a hinged plow (CQR type), but I think it is a knock-off. Its probably sold as a 45 lb anchor, because the only 40 lb plow type I can find is a Mason, and it doesn't look anything like the one I have.

The secondary anchor is a 25 lb, and it weighs exactly 25 lbs. I think it may be a CQR, either that or a very good copy and is still a nice little anchor. I read an article online that said anything less than 25 lbs in a hinged plow type anchor was useless. Apparently these things need weight to work properly.

I also weighed the chain just for the hell of it. The secondary has 30 feet of 1\4" HT, that weighs in at around 25 lbs, and the primary has a 130 feet of 1/4" HT weighing in at around 100 lbs. So a quick tally shows the weight of ground tackle on the bow including the 25 lb Lofrans Royal Windlass, is,,,, 215 lbs. Not bad really. I suppose there will be a little more added weight with the 450 feet of 1/2" 3 strand nylon rode as well. But hey, it all still weighs less than I do.

Until next update.

Rob