01.25.05 - It's always a little disconcerting when Life interrupts and totally re-writes one's script, especially when one is enjoying it so much. But such, it seems, is the way of things, or at least the way it's going to be for me. At the time, it seemed like little more than a normal series of typically urgent situations needing to be addressed with relative immediacy. Looking back now, it was clearly a conspiracy of events heaped upon me deliberately and specifically to prevent my putting MoonTan II in the water. 
Despite work-related catastrophes of the "information management" genre, despite an early El Niño-induced winter now being described as a Southwestern "drought-buster", despite a domestic water line break between our house and the main over 200 feet away, despite mandatorily festive, back-to-back events for the entire last six weeks of the year, despite an historic election and an hysterical vacation, I have still managed to make measurable progress on one or more of my projects. 
Probably the most important thing accomplished was an analysis of MoonTan's standing and running rigging. Although I have yet to see the mast in a stepped and fully upright position, a close visual inspection tells me that much needs to be done before a sail can be raised on this boat. Although there are only six turnbuckles total, one each for the jibstay at the bow and the backstay at the stern, plus two each for the port and starboard sets of upper and lower shroud lines, all of them need attention at some level, with some or all of the component parts of each assembly needing repair or replacement.
Since almost all of the Reinell's rigging hardware was manufactured by Shaefer Marine and CS Johnson,
between their on-line catalogs (Shaefer / Johnson) and some
very helpful sales reps
at SailingSupply.Com,
I was able to fairly quickly identify and order the necessary parts.
I've had to replace two badly deformed clevis pins, fore and aft, and their cotters, plus
the T-bolt at the backstay. The clevis pins were stressed beyond belief, illustrating the
tremendous forces at play. The T-bolt was bent to the point where I would have worried about
metal fatigue had I attempted to straighten it. The turnbuckle bodies and threaded eye studs
were actually in reasonably good shape, with the bodies responding well to cleaning and polishing, and the mildly bent studs deferring to the gentle but firm persuasion of my mechanic's 100-lb vice. I found, too, that the toggle jaws could be carefully coaxed back into shape.
The stays and shrouds themselves show no signs of deterioration or loosening at the terminals. With the exception of the two shroud anchor plates themselves, which I believe only need to be removed, polished and re-set into the deck with backing plates, my standing rigging now seems to be sound. 
I found the running rigging to be a bit worse off. While the main and jib sheets seem to be in
fairly good condition, both halyards appear to have exceeded their life spans. The sun-bleached,
3/8" double braided polyester is pretty worn and ratty, with the main halyard sporting a three-foot section where the outer cover is completely gone, revealing the scrawny inner core. Without question, all the rope needs to be replaced. The thimble eye on the wire portion of the halyards appear sound, so I've opted to order a kit and teach myself how to attach new braided rope to the thimble eye using an eye splice.
That's the plan, at any rate. My work requires that I travel about four times a year,
usually here in the Southwest and usually by car, but every now and then I find myself on a plane
to San Francisco, New York or even Vancouver. I'm imagining myself sitting there at 40,000 feet,
splicing away, alternately glancing out the window, then back at my lapful of halyard, much like
the little old lady a few rows ahead of me with the clicking knitting needles. Despite the odd
looks from smirking flight attendants, I remain self-confident and assured
that there is a HUGE difference between my splicing and her knitting -- in all likelihood
she'll never have to run that sweater up a mast!
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