It is raining very hard. After my weekly early morning root canal fun, I rush down to see if the boat is OK.

I had  rigged the tarpaulin so I was not too worried but as it is also very windy, there is always the possibility that the tarp has blown away.

The boat fills up very quickly. The water fills the bilges, the cockpit, the engine compartment and the cabin. It is a major drawback. I am trying to think of a way to drill some kind of drainage system through the hull that could be open when the boat is on land but can be shut off when she is at sea.

It really rains here.

After only a couple of hours, the cockpit space is full of water.

I had set up a ridge pole for the tarpaulin. This was a long piece of gunwhale trim that I had sanded for hours, given many coats of wood treater and then varnish. The weight of the water snapped it like a twig.

I am so stupid.

I spend 2 hours re-rigging the tarpaulin in the pouring rain. This is actually fun as the rain here is warm. It is a bit like a  2 hour shower.

I also fitted some lateral slats and stretched the tarp very tight. Fingers crossed. The horizontal white line half way up the cockpit is the engine hatch cover. Rain like today would fill up the cockpit in 2 hours and flood the engine.

We will put the engine in soon and I cannot allow it to be submerged every time it rains.

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