Since most of today is likely to be fairly dry but with rain settling in sometime in the late afternoon I needed to get as much done as I could. So, immediately after breakfast I went out and started.

I cut the leather chafing protection a few days ago and rubbed lanolin in to the leather so it was ready to be stitched in place. It may need to be moved but I do not know how far the chafe will extend until it does.

Next up were the two headsails shown here furled.

I had to be a be quick with the next photos since, although the wind is very light, putting sails up when the boat is on land is generally not a good thing to do. One sudden gust of wind could cause all sorts of mayhem.

As you can see, the staysail is a lot smaller than before and now does not foul the mast. The other sail, the jib, looks the be about the right size as well. Pity about the grey material but the sails are only temporary whilst I save up for a new set.

Still lots to do and not much time. The forecast for tomorrow has changed overnight and now instead of showers we are expecting heavy rain and instead of South or South-Westerly winds we are expecting North or North-Westerly. Still, as the forecast changed overnight perhaps it will change for the better overnight again tonight.

Lunchtime saw a couple of small tasks done, the weather is still good but not for long according to the Met Office.

The mainsheet blocks were added to the boom and a mainsheet made from 10mm rope. The blocks are only tied on for the moment as I'm not entirely sure how these should be fixed. Tying will do for the moment, I'll figure out a better way once Naiad is on the water.

Likewise the strop that holds the Wykeham Martin furling drum away from the forestay, this is also only tied for the moment. I tried to take out one of the three shackles but, as you can see here, the guide for the furling line is now out of position, so the smaller shackle was replaced by a twisted shackle.

The afternoon session started promptly at 16:00 and I still had a lot of things to do.

The bobstay was made and fitted, the fairleads for the jib sheets located and mostly screwed in place. I say mostly since they will need some backing pads and that will have to wait until I have assistance. The jib sheets were also measured, cut and fitted.

Here is how she looked after that little lot was competed. The sun had gone in by this time and you can see the rain clouds massing. shorty after this photo was taken the drizzle started. Not enough to get me wet enough to wear a raincoat, in fact putting one one would have made me wetter from the humidity inside the coat. I was very warm with all this work.

The rudder was next with the fitting of a stop to prevent the blade from being pulled too far forward. I only had small countersunk bronze screws so those had to do.

They stand a bit proud of the bronze sheet, but will do for now. The up and down hauls were also measured cut and fitted although I won't know how well they will work until the boat is in the water.

At this point it stared to rain a little more insistently and I could no longer work in the cockpit without some sort of cover. I needed the cockpit to stay dry so that when the centre plate is manoeuvred into place I'm not working on a slippery surface. So I improvised a cockpit tent. There was no wind at all at this point so I didn't tie it down which made it a lot easier to get in and out of the boat.

Tina gave me a hand getting the centre plate into the boat and I was pleasantly surprised at how easily it went into place. You can see the plate protruding from the keel above. It did require some jiggling about and more assistance from Tina with a long piece of wood as a lever since the aft beam on the trailer prevented the plate from being able to swing up into the case. Tina levered and I pulled it forward a little from the inside and between us we got the plate in the correct place.

Here it is on the inside. I have a bolt with two rubber bumpers through the plate and the bumpers are resting on two wooden chocks. This takes the weight of the plate off the pivot for travelling. I don't want the weight of the centre plate bouncing up and down on the pivot bolt as we take the boat to be launched.

The final job for the day was to put the clock and barometer back in the boat. They have been hanging in the workshop for a few weeks until now. Yes, that does say almost 21:16, I was working for just over 5 hours to get this far. I did stop to make several cups of tea but drank those on the go even so.

The remainder of my task list can be done when Naiad is in the water bar rigging the centre plate tackle and lashing another beam across the trailer to support the centre plate. I would have done that last one this evening but it was really too dark to do a good job.

I still have a very long list of things to do before setting off such as filling the water containers and putting all the galley equipment in the car. There are 85 items on my list but not all of them are essential. Making sure that there is marmalade on board is one such. I'm not sure we even have enough marmalade anyway.

For now, time to sit for a few moments and relax before going to bed. tomorrow will come early.