It was late January 2010 when I first plunged the circular saw into my squishy old decks on Magic, and as of 8pm last night I can finally say that I have finished recoring the decks. Of course the project started long before that first cut, and will continue long after today, but this is a milestone I hope to never achieve again (at least not with Magic). Given the ridiculous schedule our family is on right now with a myriad of school related activities and shuttling all over New Hampshire, I pretty amazed that I've gotten this far without throwing in the towel.

Early on in this project I found myself getting overwhelmed with everything that needed (and still needs) to be done, but I found that by just focusing on the task at hand and working that to completion, I could manage and move forward without wanting to cry (at least during the day). A few months back I found a quote from Mark Twain that absolutely floored me and literally gave the project a new lease on life.

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret of getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one.”

Simple and obvious, but it has become my mantra. I have thrown away my big list because it's too big, and now just focus on the immediate task and those right after.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the aft deck that I completed last night. I may jump right into the fairing this afternoon while the aft deck is still green and I can avoid sanding, but that will depend on whether the edges of the glass are flat enough and don't need any cleanup. After that, the boat and shed are in dire need of a top to bottom cleaning before I start the bulk of the fairing.