After many late nights and a few surprise repairs I was able to launch the boat yesterday. The weather was cool and overcast which was perfect until the wind picked up in the late afternoon sending rollers into the marina. This made fine tuning the rigging next to impossible so I called it a day and headed home for some celebratory beers and BBQ.
Converting the Suzuki DT8 into a long shaft was more difficult than I anticipated but came together in the end. I picked the best parts from both gearboxes, sandblasted and repainted everything, installed all new bearings and seals and mounted my original power head. The prop now sits below the bottom of the transom and operates noticeably smoother. The motor looks and runs great, I couldn't be happier with the way this turned out.
I totally forgot to take more pictures of the new sail covers, I'll write a separate entry next week after I have more hands on with them. First impressions are good, I made some assumptions and would have done a couple things differently but overall I'm happy considering the price. I will probably have them make up some winch and outboard covers.
I'm excited to get on the water!
