Well, it’s been pretty cold this winter…too cold to go out sailing and still be somewhat comfortable, except for just a few days ago, when there was one day of perfect sailing weather.

We had a huge ice storm last month that completely covered the entire northern portion of Texas. Thankfully, the marina where my boat is didn’t sustain any damage, but a neighboring marina had roofs collapse and submerged fingers actually pulled some boats into the water.

Even though it’s been too cold to go sailing, I’ve been going out every couple of weeks to start the motor and also continue work on the interior and other little projects that come up. I’m almost finished with tearing out the v-berth and once that’s done, I’ll be able to fix the leak(s) and begin the rebuild.

A few days ago I went out to start the motor and work on the v-berth some more since I had a couple of free hours. The motor has been performing perfectly since I finally took the advice of disconnecting the fuel line and letting it run itself out when I’m ready to shut it down. The motor started right up on the first try. While I let the motor run for about twenty minutes (idling, under load, forward and reverse), I decided to check out my selection of jibs onboard.

Every time I’ve gone out since I bought the boat, I used the jib that had been most easily accessible…turns out it’s a very small jib. I didn’t even think about how small it was until I saw it in a photo a friend took while I was under sail. So I pulled out another jib and ran it up while I was parked in the slip. I don’t think it’s perfectly fitted for this boat, but it’s roughly a 110% jib. I let it air out a little and checked the condition. It appears to be in very good condition, but there are some stains that I’ll need to clean. Anyone have some good advice on cleaning sails and removing these stains?

dirty jib

Dirty Jib