If You Have to Ask What Boat Stands for...

Cromwell Island to starboard 2013

 The Lido and trailer need a bit of touch up work after only two sails this season. But what's another thirty or so? Which in my case it what boat stands for as I've not quite spent a grand on my fiberglass hole in the water I'm throwing money into. Today the prime expense is a new tiller. The Typesetter built a very pretty laminated tiller to replace the one that came with the boat. It's worked well but we've had consistent cracking problems at the rudder end and after this last sail it's to the point I can't really trust it anymore. Nothing like hearing the crack of wood when you come about. So I bit the bullet and ordered a new H and L Marine tiller off of Ebay. I did some research on H and L and they come highly recommended, having made tillers for production boats for years. They may have gone out of business recently so I figured why not, the price was the same as from the Schock website. Should be arriving in a few days, I'm quite excited.
  My trailer is very slowly giving me reason to want to a priest to bless it. There is a ground fault that enjoys blowing my trucks taillight fuse randomly. The Harbor Freight trailer jack refuses to stay put. And the bolt that holds the knob style hitch went missing during the last transit. Today I completely dissembled it to make it work better. Bought a new bolt at Ace Hardware and spent an hour on my back trying out various forms of profanity to see if one word or another made the job easier or if a combined string had any effect. I should just put a proper hitch on it but it works for now. Added a lock nut so the bolt shouldn't disappear so easily.
 And with that I'm done sailing for at least a week or more until the new tiller shows up. At some point soon I need to get a new centerboard and a new rudder, as both are showing their half century of service. The rudder has a bit of a twist along its lower sections and both are pitted and worn. The centerboard has seen numerous rocks, trees, monsters in it's life.If I want to keep sailing I need to replace them.
  I think part of owning an object is making sure that's it's done right to the best of your ability as soon as  you can. If something is wrong or off or doesn't work right, fix it as soon as you can. Don't wait, don't hesitate. Objects we like and cherish deserve this treatment. And besides a boat you can't take out today because of something you should have done yesterday does you no good tomorrow. Or something like that. 
 While looking over the forums and then looking over the boat I see that the mainsheet block was moved aft about six inches from it's original location, a modification that is recommended for racing boats. There are four plugs where the old screw holes were. I'm guessing it was moved during the time it was a saltwater boat. Maybe when it was listed on the class register 1964-65. Makes me wonder about Esmerelda's first owner. Was she purchased to race? How did she do? And what journey did she take that caused her to end up sailing fresh water in the Big Sky Country?
 I've been looking over the internet for video's of other Lidos and I must say I'm not a fan of the 6000 series. They lack a certain texture that appeals to me in my boat. Gone is the wood and "brass" accents that highlight various parts. Where do you store stuff for a day sail with the fo'c'sle all boxed in? And the rudder is now pure pintles and gudgeons, the the elegant solution provided by the classic boats. I can't fault it for what it is, a modern sailing dinghy but it's nice to know it came from classic roots, although fiberglass it's easy to see my boat in wood. And I'm more then okay with that.