Its another dreary, dismal, stormy, weekend winter day in Sitka. No sailing today, and the same forcast for tomorrow. So it looks like i will have to be satisfied with with fantasy sailing instead. I found an interesting website thanks to the Bristol list on Sailnet: www.laurig.com Not what I would call a typical cruising website, but it contains a number of entertaining tales as well as some interesting philosphy. The site is worth more than a passing glance.

On another note, I have been looking at ways to improve Polly's functional spaces. I need some bookshelf space, and I would like to have an area in the cockpit to do chart work. I think that the port side under the sprayhood will work with a few modifications. It seems to stay fairly dry no matter what the weather, and is just wasted space now. I originally intended to mount line handling stuff there, but the more I sail the less I think its necessary or even better to bring lines back to the cockpit. Of course the cabintop is curved so fashioning a base for a chart table will require copying a curve. After a couple of false starts I think I finally have a close approximation and will try fitting a template before attempting to make the pieces out of expensive mahogany stock. The top should be relatively easy I will use Okume plywood and about 15 coats of varnish. This project will also invole moving the depth sounder readout and perhaps will also allow mounting the sailing instruments also.

I've finished the mockup for the helmseat/propane locker and will work on the finished product as weather an time allow. My workshop is neither insulated nor heated so working is a bit uncomfortable this time of year. Great for keeping beer cold, the temp stays right around 40f. Definitely not user friendly for getting woodworking projects done. One project for next summer will be to insulate and finish the space. My neighbor has done his and is able to carry on his custom fishing rod business year round. I have a number of fiberglass projects waiting for warmer weather also. I think getting the plastic to set in thteambient chill is more than a bit problematic.

Sitka has a real problem with mooring space. Although, we have 4 very large harbors and a small private marina there are at least 200 boats on the waiting list for slips. Unfortunately, we are on the longest list at positon 123 or some similar spot. We have a 30 foot slip for the winter but will have to move to transient moorage in April. there will aso be aobu t100 commercial boats here for the summer starting in late March so moorage is normally a big problem here. To compound the problem one of the harbors is being rebuilt this summer which will make the problem even more acute. I asked about anchoring in the moorage field across the channel for the summer, if that becomes necessary I will have to upgrade my ground tackle. I was not really surprised to find out that no provision to change the rules to allow longterm anchoring. I will talk with the Harbormaster next week, but I would be willing to bet that nothing has been done to alleviate the upcoming crunch. I guess thats part of the price we pay for our ridiculous low moorage rates here. I think I would rather pay more and have a bit better facility as well as foresight.