Hydrometer reading failure

[yaeyama]

How "important" is it to have an accurate hydrometer reading when you first prepare the must? My readings, taken multiple times, ranged from "table wine" down to "dessert wine" depending on how I held the hydrometer. I'm embarrassed to say that, I used the hydrometer's shipping container to check my sample, instead of using the wine thief. I know my mistake now, but the must is already bubbling away.

 

[yaeyama]

What a relief! After doing my second reading off my primary today (3rd day), I realized what the scale of the hydrometer was. I was all worried about a failed initial reading, but now that I know how large the scale is, I must have been within a 0.010 of my desired 1.100 SG. Today, the must smells great, everything looks good, and my reading is down to around 1.070, so I guess I must have done something right.

I'm guessing another 2 days before I rack to secondary.

 

[Sacalait]

That sounds about right, rack when it gets to 1.010.