It was a beautiful day today, dry, calm and warm although it was a little chilly to start the day. However, I didn't let that stop me and I cracked on soon after we had finished breakfast.

The first thing on the list is something that I've been meaning to do since I first put the charcoal heater in Naiad and that is an ash pan. I originally thought of having a metal tray under the heater but never got round to it and making it in metal was going to be a pain, so I've decided to make it out of wood. I cut 8 pieces of cedar, put a piece of thin plastic sheet against the hull to prevent the wood from sticking to the hull, glued one edge of each piece and slipped them into place as you can see here. Tomorrow I'll take it out and make the sides.

The tabernacle was next up and that didn't take long to put back in place.

Then I added two eye bolts on either side of the cockpit just in front of the poop deck. These will be used to the attach blocks that will be used for the self-steering.

I made some carpet squares to go in the cabin a few years ago but I've mislaid them so I made some new ones. These are the same colour as the original...

...but these are green as I ran out of the beige.

The AIS requires a connection through the deck, so that was next. I drilled the hole up from the inside right next to the beam shelf and this is where it came out,. I'll have to be careful about the sheets rubbing on the cable. 

I used the Sikaflex to seal the deck gland, messy but does the job.

This is what the gland looks like except that I've not screwed the top part down yet as I need to raise the mast and clip the cable to one of the shrouds first.

Whilst I had the Sikaflex open I put a thin bead around the newly re-installed tabernacle base.

The fore and aft parts were tricky trying to squeeze the handle and keep the nozzle steady whilst trying to run down a neat bead.

Still, they came out fairly well and look good now that they have been smoothed out with a wet finger.

I connected the break-out box for the AIS next, then connected the antenna even though it's only lying on the deck right now and turned the AIS on. A few minutes later this is the result. The left light is the power light, the second-to-left light shows that the unit is receiving a GPS signal, the right light shows that the transmitter is connected and it goes off briefly every time it transmits an AIS message and the second-to-right light (not lit) flashes every time it receives an AIS message from another vessel. Obviously, it's not flashing right now.

I also sanded a few worn patches on the toerail and applied a coat of varnish over these patches.

Now Naiad can be taken outside to have the mast and spars attached for dressing.

Except the weather in the next few days is going to be windy. Very windy. One forecast service is currently predicting gusts of storm for 10 and I don't want Naiad to be outside for that with the mast up. Not on the hard. If she were afloat I wouldn't have a problem but she isn't.

A very good day's work, time for a cup of tea.