Then I broke my ankle. Project "paused".
I still got some things done, work I could do while standing on level concrete or sitting down (I never had a cast or anything, just crutches for a couple of weeks and a splint). The mahogany rudder has been stripped of paint and partially refinished (major nicks and such sanded out, reshaped slightly to accomodate the damaged areas, etc), new winches have been purchased and partially refurbished, etc. The ankle still isn't back to 100%, and I'm told it never will be, but at least I can finally work again.
Step One: Move the boat under cover. Seattle is currently at day 30 for "continuous" rainfall; in this case defined as measurable rainfall at some point in each 24 hour period, but despite this bad definition it's still pretty wet. No, all kidding aside, that's not actually normal. <grin>
The shelter is actually pretty nice. $200 for a solid pole frame and thick plastic covering, 20' by 10' by about 25' tall at the peak. I don't actually know who makes it, as I bought it from a local marine storage facility, but it somewhat resembles a more sturdy version of the "Costco Garage" shelter. Anyway, it works quite well as a semi-permanent work area; yesterday and today work continued through major showers without any problems inside the shelter.
Step Two: Start over on the keel refinishing effort. This time, I didn't mess around; the first round took several days of grinding with a six-inch grinder and didn't completely strip off the rust. Round two was sandblasting, removing all the rust, several layers of old paint (including latex house paint!?!?) some sort of epoxy putty, and quite a bit of gelcoat. Within minutes of finishing the sandblasting - surface rust was already appearing where we'd started, given the moisture in the air - the entire keel was completely treated with a concentrated marine rust inhibitor/converter. Tomorrow morning I'll check it over for obvious weak points - spots of rust, basically - and recoat if necessary, then apply a thin barrier coat of epoxy or primer in the afternoon. The keel's badly pitted, and needs fairing and sanding before I apply bottom paint.
While that was going on, I did more work on deck - removing the hatches, etc. that I didn't remove while the boat wasn't under cover - and my wife Keri started sanding, taking the hull down to the fiberglass in the areas that need patching due to mounting holes, deep gouges, etc. There are a few more of those areas than I originally thought, but nothing that can't be fixed fairly quickly.
The day's work is short on pictures - too much sandblasting to expose the camera very often, and my wife the usual photographer was busy with a random orbital sander in her hands - but despite aches, a few bruises, a complaining ankle, and sand in places I really don't want it, I'm happy. Progress after so long is nice to see.