Getting on with it

I headed up to Shotley today with a long list of things to do, and our younger son Alex to help me. He's a dab hand with a paintbrush, so got on with anti fouling the rest of the rudder, and varnishing the cheeks while I drilled out and filled the too large holes for the gooseneck fitting. I'd made some square soft wood plugs at home, so it was just a matter of sanding them to fit, on 80 grain sandpaper, then glueing them in place.
I re-ran the ariel lead and fitted the fair lead, then Alex and I had lunch and a walk while the glue and varnish dried.
I cut the plugs off level with the mast, and cautiously drilled the first one out. I was afraid that the plug would just disintegrate, so drilled the hole a size smaller than I would otherwise have done,; the plug stayed intact and when I screwed the screw in a little it bit well. I did the others the same way, and fitted the gooseneck.
After that it was just a matter of sliding the boom back onto its fitting, lashing on the sail, refitting the gaff, and checking it all worked. Just a matter of..... I re-ran the ropes four times before it all worked properly!
Alex gave the rudder cheeks a second coat of varnish while I tidied up, then we headed home, tired but content.