Her Bones are Good

It's been quiet of late, with all the lousy weather, and other plans afoot.  One of the plans we have been working on is getting Brion Toss to come out and complete a rigging survey on Brigadoon.  Brion is a well known and respected rigger, who we saw speak at the Seattle Boat Show.  I have also read his book "The Riggers Apprentice" years ago.  Brion is a wealth of information wrapped up in a pragmatic and jovial presentation.

The tough part about this is that I invited an expert in yacht rigging to tell me about the condition of the rig.  The news would be the news and, on a 30 year old boat, I had to be prepared for anything.  Basically, he could have told me my rig was bad, that I could/should not sail her.  I had to be prepared for that.

He arrived late yesterday.  Brion was more than welcome to have me along as he inspected the running and standing rigging on Brigadoon. This is crucial, because, the regular survey, as good as it was, did not really cover the rigging.

Aside from Brion inspecting the rigging and providing me feedback on her condition, he also offered up quite a few suggestions how to improve various aspects of the rig, in order to make it more effective and make my life easier.

I'm looking forward to his detailed report in a week or so.  It will be a useful tool approach improvements on Brigadoon.

The one thing he said, when all was said and done, was good.  As Brion stood there, looking up at her, he turned to me and said, "Her bones are good.  You've got a good boat."

That couldn't have made me happier.