Hirilonde

Best forum ever, thanks again for your attention to detail Frank.

I sail a different boat, but I find that every small boat I have sailed I try to get as far forward as humanly possible. I go right up to the cockpit coaming in my Lapwing using the tiller extention. Wetted surface matters more than the shape in the water, so long as the board and rudder are still wet enough.

I towed my Spindrift for years behind my Renegade using a hole that was flaired forward. Epoxied the hole as I did the whole boat. The line was almost the same diameter. No wear at all.

Acetone is very flammable and really dries out your skin, but it is inhert. Breathing the fumes isn't a clever idea, but it really isn't overly harmful. I'm not trying to sell it, there are other options as stated above, but it isn't "evil".

It all depends on what you are cleaning up. I use citrus waterless hand soap to clean me up.

I usually sit in the aft cockpit on the seat, just aft of the center thwart. In heavy wind I move to the deck, just aft of the thwart. In really light wind I move to the forward cockpit on the lee side and use my hiking stick to recuce wetted surface and maintain a heal to keep the sails full waiting for puffs. The hiking straps run from the aft seat/locker to the center board trunk. I use a shock cord to hold them up to easily and quickly get my feet under them and be able to step on them. Oh, and I epoxied a 6mm patch inside the aft locker to reinfore the straps connection.

So the areas with blush have all the soft stiff scraped off and what is left is hard and still yellowed/foggy?

I would think that the shape of the aluminum where it slides would be very critical regardless of graphite or not. Fair at both ends, smooth round, etc..

.........and damned because it is all related.

Bright work is looking good. In the old days, the spars were often the only item done bright. This was done so that rot or other damage could be easily observed before they broke. The masts being vertical receive less UV than any more horizontal surfce and booms and gaffs were usually covered with the sails when not sailing.

I made my main sprit a little shorther than desired. I scarfed a piece on to make it longer.

Oak stains easily and deeply, you would have had to remove way too much to get rid of all the black. If you want to keep the Oak bright, give it many coats of varnish and keep them up.

I think you will find that paint works reasonably well on the frame, but does nothing for the springs. The paint does not get between the leaves, but water does. Springs are often the first part to go, or hubs/bearings if they are not maintained.

Do you glue a backer to the inside of the hull to bolt them through? This is what Garry called for to install his home made SS nesting hardware. Mine are still holding 19 years later.

I used 6mm bs1088 Okoume as my deck was bs1088 Sapele. A couple minutes in boiling water made bending it into place easy. Clamped it in place and let it dry, then epoxied it in. I specifically ordered 2 sheets of Sapele for my deck and transom. I am a huge fan of Sapele. But kiln dried is very hard and even steamed does not bend easily. It could be laminated into place, tedious to do, but would look great.