Leaning tower of Boatza?

I know, its been several weeks since I did a blog post.  That is because it has been several weeks since I was able to work on the boat.  I spent 2 weekends recovering from a seriously pulled muscle in my back, followed by a week long business trip to Boston.  You were all secretly hoping that I would come back and say "Surprise, the boat is done!!!", weren't you? 

So, what have I gotten accomplished today?  I lifted my boat so I could re-block the keel.  Since we have been having warm weather, the keel blocking has sunk into the ground, but unfortunately, it has done so unevenly.  As you can see from the photos, it is still somewhat uneven, but at least it is better.  I wish I had taken a before picture.  In any case, I would not recommend someone else doing this.  I used the front 3 jack stands to slowly raise the boat off the front blocking.  There are two reasons that I do not recommend doing this with your boat.  The first is that you have the possibility to damage the fiberglass, especially when it is cold.  The second is that you have your boat up in the air, so there is a possibility to have your boat fall over, or worse, on you.  That being said, I did not have either of these issues.  I was none the less concerned about these issues while doing it.  I did make sure the stands on the sides of the hull were placed so they were pushing against the bulkheads inside the hull, so that lessened my risk of hull damage, and helped to distribute the weight of the lift around the boat.  I was able to get some 3/4 inch plywood under the 8x8 beam, but this is a temporary fix.  When I get more time, I am going to have to lift the boat again and put a real board under the 8x8, as the plywood is likely to rot once things start to melt. 

Speaking of which, sometimes you get what you pay for.  I thought that I had gotten a really stellar deal on my tarp for covering my boat.  Unfortunately, it has been holed in several places on things like stanchions, 2x4 framing, and the pulpit.  It is a good thing that I screwed up in buying my first tarp, because I can now place it under the first tarp to help keep the rain out that spring will inevitably bring. 

She looks pretty good in a winter wonderland, but will look better on the open ocean!