Day 82

Got it. Bait's holding?

walk to the pantry and crouch by the trap, lifting the lid carefully to inspect the bait and spring mechanism

Spring's tight. Trigger's gummed up though — salt.

wipe the trigger mechanism clean with a rag from my pocket, then work the spring a few times to test the action

Won't fail. You want the radio up before the boat's due?

finish cleaning the trigger, oil the spring lightly from the tin on the shelf, then reset the trap and slide it back against the wall

Tide turns in twenty minutes. I'll meet you at the cottage after I check the mooring ring.

walk to the dock and inspect the dinghy's mooring ring in its mortise

Won't.

kneel at the dock edge and work the mooring ring, testing the play in its mortise with both hands

Spare porcelain insulator's in the tool roll on the porch. If the housing's gone, we'll need epoxy and the fibreglass mat — what's left of it.

pry the mooring ring up with the crowbar to clear the mortise, then clean out the salt-crusted bolts with the wire brush

Kevin — torque both nyloc nuts to 35Nm using the torque wrench, seating the mooring ring flush against the backing plate. Check ring alignment and clearance for the bow line splice.

Kevin — splice a new eye into the bow line using the half-inch three-strand rope, forming a proper eye splice with a served throat. Fit the eye over the mooring ring and seize it with sail twine. Check the lead is fair.

On it. Bow line first — got a feel for how much play's in the ring.

walk to the bow of the dinghy, take hold of the bow line, and pull it tight while watching the mooring ring for movement. If it shifts, I'll note where it binds.

Ring's shifting. Quarter inch play under load. I'll splice the new eye on the bow line tonight — take the strain off the ring entirely.

hold the bow line taut with one hand, reach down with the other to feel the ring's movement in the mortise, then walk back toward the stern cleat to check Jenny's line.

Splicing it now. Fid's in the tool roll, new rope on the porch.

walk fast to the porch, grab the coil of new half-inch three-strand and the fid from the tool roll, return to the bow, and start unlaying the end for an eye splice.

Three tucks, then a fourth for safety. You take the standing part — keep it hard.

work the fid through the rope's lay, pulling each strand tight against the standing part while Jenny holds tension, forming the eye neat and firm.

Done. Bend it on?

pass the new eye through the dinghy's bow cleat, pull it up snug, and cleat it off with a figure-eight, then step back to watch the ring go slack as the new line takes the strain.

Rope's dry but stubborn. Eye's set, tail's whipped — want to check the bury before I load it?

hold up the spliced eye for inspection, wiping sweat from forearm with the back of my hand

Bury's five tucks. Whipped with the tarred twine from the crate. But the rope's old — might have taken a set.

stand still while she works the splice, watching the tide creep up the pilings

Pull steady. I've got the bitter end.

brace feet on the damp planks, grip the standing line, and lean back to counteract her pull on the eye

Agreed. For tonight it'll hold. Tomorrow I'll drill through and bolt it with a backing plate — same as the oarlock.

take the rope back, coil the tail neatly, and glance at the barometer — still falling, 1006 now

Got the stainless. Drill the mortise tomorrow at slack water. Bolt the ring proper.

secure the coiled bow line to the cleat with a rolling hitch, then straighten and stretch the kinks from my back

Check it on the way past. Skillet's still hot from lunch.

follow her up the jetty, testing each plank before committing weight, the rotten ones marked with axe cuts

Might be mackerel in the wash-up crate. Seals looked intact.

step onto the porch, unhook the screen door, and pause at the pantry to check the trap — wire sprung, bait gone, no carcass

We need to secure the dinghy now. Three lines minimum—bow, stern, and spring. I’ll run them from the cleats to the shore anchors. Grab the extra rope from the porch.

Grab the coil of new three-strand rope from the porch and sprint to the dock, shouting over the wind: "Hold the bitter end while I take a turn around the bollard!" Then begin tying a round turn and two half-hitches on the bow cleat, feeding

Stern line next—take this end and make fast to the shore pin by the boathouse. I’ll run the spring from the quarter cleat to prevent fore-and-aft jerk.

Throw the coiled rope toward the shore pin, then sprint to the dinghy’s stern cleat. As Jenny hauls tight on the bow, I secure the stern line with a round turn and two half-hitches, then immediately run a spring line from the aft quarter cl

Ease the spring half a turn—let her breathe before she snaps the cleat. I’ll check the bow bollard and the shore pins for movement.

Move along the dock toward the bow, testing each knot under load with a boot on the line, feeling for slip. Shine my headlamp on the bow bollard where the line bites into the iron, watching for any shift in the mortise.