Bought some fishing line (20# test Power Pro Spectra green braided) to use for the standing rigging. Instead of trying to install channels on the outside of the bulwarks (...scary...) I opted instead to just use screw eyes on the deck. Just like the running rigging, each line is made up of three parts. A line tied to the screw eyes connects to one small button. A line tied to the mast over each spar connects to another small button. And finally the two buttons are looped tight together. For now adjusting the tension requires replacing the connecting thread with a new one.

To start I've run six standing rigging lines per mast: above the courses, tops and top gallant spars on each side, plus two lines going between main and foremast.

Time to work on the ballast torpedo and fin. First I double checked that the Beagle is 39 inches tall and the back seat of our Escape has 40 inches of clearance. So the design for attaching ballast to the keel can't increase its height at all. Arg...

To make the fin I super-glued three 8x10 inch plastic sheets from Lowes together, then glued that to a 2 inch wide strip that I hand-cut... no easy task (for me anyway). I caulked the connection all the way around with Marine epoxy. Hung an 8 pound dumbbell under it to make sure it would hold the weight before proceeding.

For the ballast torpedo I'm using a couple of steel pipes and some old aquarium gravel inside a pvc pipe. Plastic ties will secure it to the bottom of the fin and give me a way to adjust its position on the keel.

Haven't quite figured out how to attached the fin to the keel. Thinking I might try using fishing line tied to some small nails on the side of the keel.

Meanwhile.... moving the sails from the rotating masts to the new ones showed a few measurement issues I had, especially with the main's top and top gallant sails. I took down the main top, cut it a bit shorter, and put it back on. Looks much better now.

Week 36