New handrails

If you recall, one of the must-do projects that had to be completed before our upcoming trip was the installation of new stainless steel handrails to replace the original teak ones. Et voila!

These were purchased online, arrived slightly bent and were incredibly difficult to install, because they required drilling 4 holes at a 45 degree angle to the cabin roof, which is not the flattest place in the world, itself! I had to fabricate little chocks so that the fasteners would have a flat surface to lie against inside. This is one of them:

In any case, they're done, and the stainless fabricator, who came by today to spec out a different part I'd like him to make for me, approved of the installation. These are only one part of a multi-component safety system on board that also includes the life-lines (or trip-lines, depending on how tall you are!), the jack-lines that run from the bow to the stern, and the lanyards that connect the jack-lines to the chest-harnesses that the crew wears whenever there's a danger of going overboard. I'll be writing more about how we stay safe while sailing tomorrow!