Busy busy

So there was Bryan putting in my portholes when he had to stop at 12.30 and take the one he had put in out and replace it with the plywood again because unannounced the sand blaster man arrived to clean off the scale and he said there was the outside possibility the glass might break.

By the time I arrived at 2pm he stopped for a fag break and had done about 2/3rds. As you can see he still had the front section to do. I can't believe that steel is really that colour.



It was then all hands on deck to get the prepack undercoat on before the steel rusted.




Now about 5 minutes after I arrived my electrician also arrived. It is unheard of to see him in daylight and typically he couldn't do anything straight away. We had a good discussion about what we still needed to address. My funky headlight will take 6 weeks to order from Germany but he doesn't have to wait that long to drill the hole in the roof and fix a watertight socket as Mel promises him that when he welds on my hinge he wont melt the wires.





As the 12v wiring and the 240v wiring must never be in the same space Bryan has constructed little boxes in the 240v conduit for the 12v wiring to pass through safely. This only needs to happen for the pumps, my compost loo fan and the TV, aerial and speakers wires.


I do think that he has made himself a little too comfortable in my boat with his table for his kettle and that special little shelf for the radio!



Still they do say that British industry runs on Tea.

I've got my backside in WW!

what a surprise I got whilst reading my February Waterways World last night.

It's on page 88 two fat ladies for anyone who is interested.

Bored bored bored

Is now a good time to let you good folks know that I have a very very low boredom threshold?

All I could think of as I was oiling the boards in my solitary fashion was that I was bored bored bored of the boards!

By Sunday evening I will have done 8 I have just broken into the second tin to do the last 6th of the last board first coat best side. How annoying is that, that it couldn't quite stretch to that last little bit to be nice and tidy for maths purposes.

I got to thinking

about Cesca for whom this blog is a sort of memorial and thought you might like to see what she looked like.





This is a picture taken the year before she was killed. We got a grade 1 on this ride and I was really looking forward to doing it in 1997 in the Open category. But on the 7th July 1997 at 7pm it happened. My son was with me at the time and he was 7 years old. What a thing to witness at his age. I guess I don't much like 7's anymore.

We had a lot of fun together in the three years we had I just wish it could have gone on a bit longer.

RIP Cesca sweet dreams

Hmmm going to need more oil me thinks

Bought three 5 litre cans. Nearly finished one and so far only done 4 full boards and first slosh on the next four. I have 23 to do and Bryan has the front faces on the ones he has installed in the boat. He is pva ing the back of those. Think I will order another four cans. My living room floor needs doing again if I have any left over.




I nipped down in the dark on my way home tonight and took this photo. He has got 4 in on one side and 3 on the other. He hopes to have 5 each side by the weekend which takes us back to the engine room bulkhead. The padding has arrived for the portholes so he can have a go at fitting them and making the boat water tight. Some of the plywood covers leak a tad which is making life difficult.

Rob went to see a physiotherapist about his knee and the pt is astounded that the hospital hasn't had him doing physiotherapy from the getgo. We are to insist on an MRI scan on his next follow up visit. Not good news.

An oil fest

The Junckers Rustic oil has arrived and I have set up my oiling depot in my dining area of the living room and that isn't a reflection of the two boards leaning up against an upside down dining room table that is actually two more boards in the conservatory leaning against a workmate and the dining room chairs! It fools everyone including my son who at least knows there is a room out there!



The boards that Bryan has already cut and are in the narrowboat are staying there. He is pva-ing the backsides and will oil them in situ. In an ideal world I would have had the boards ordered delivered to my home and oiled well before they were needed. Life unfortunately doesn't work like that. Ho hum.




You can now see clearly the channel the 240v cables will run in. Bryan has measured it perfectly so that the galley units will fit exactly underneath the bottom of the channel. Neat huh?

Some panelling

and an indication of the trough the 240v wiring etc will be hidden in.

We came to a brief halt as Bryan was not 100% and John the electrician has a frozen shoulder. I persuaded Bryan to have some days off while we waiting for the oil to arrive so we could madly oil all the panels before they are installed. Bryan will be bringing me a couple of panels to oil in my living room on the dining room table as we have nowhere suitable at Mel's. He can oil the panels already cut and on the boat so gradually we should get them all done. They should dry quicker indoors. If I can physically fit a couple of panels in the conservatory with my inventory already in there then maybe I can do four at a time. At three coats each I am going to be high as a kite just before I go to bed every night!!!

Ooer missus

Hmmm what did I say? Appears to be a little bit scorched! We are awaiting instructions from the surveyor as to how big my low level vent has to be. I will then no doubt have a matching scorch pattern on t'ther side of boat!

Still that is the front shorepower point.

And this is my back shorepower point. We have made it a little box so that when moored up and attached to shorepower we can still open the rear doors flat back.

Mel is working his way down my to do list. This is one of my hatch locking devices. These two hatches will only need locking from inside. The other two will have locks and keys so can be opened from inside and out, but basically same design. In fact these fancy brass locks came with 8 feet of rod which are being utilised with the locks for the other hatches so it wasn't a complete waste of money. What can I do with the spare rods? Sure I can think of something.

When finished the hatch lid will have a wooden liner.

Fame at last - by default

Rob's brother is over from Spain and is part of the International Ice Sculpting festival going on outside the Natural History Museum this weekend. Guess what he gets his picture in the Saturday Telegraph. In the interests of accuracy those aren't his penguins but he was the only one available for posing when the photographer got there. I bet the real penguin sculptor is a little bit narked.

Then last night we were watching the end of the Victorian Farming and Rob's sister's husband's brother was one of the experts on sheep. Far too much excitement when we are unwell I will have to go and lie down.

Any one for a tissue?

The cat is armed ...

12v and some panelling

Bryan abandoned his attempts on Friday to fit the lower panels because Mel is putting in the holes for the shoreline. It apparently involved rather a lot of smoke according to Bryan and as he is prone to asthma he left them to it. I hope they don't set it on fire. It has been known ...

John the electrician will pull all these wires in tight once I have confirmed that all possible wiring needs have been met. Bryan can't wait as everytime he turns around he gets poked in the eye! It has all been a bit chicken and egg really as the 240v stuff can't go in until the shoreline holes front and back are in. Bryan can't put the front bulkhead in until the 240v wires are ready and so we go round and round. Since getting over the lurgy I have had a fest of ordering stuff and so far have received the Omni Tub, the fridge freezer, 3 x pumps, horn and headlight, electric sockets etc. Still to arrive the compost loo, the mikuni central heating and the chilli penguin stove. It is like Xmas all over again and I definitely like all the presents.

Talking of presents Mum got me the Cobb. Brilliant bit of kit I will be able to roast a chicken etc and bake bread despite not having a conventional oven on board. Sister got me some snazzy waterproofs that fold away to nothing.

As I might have mentioned previously I have been ill. No fun. Bryan and Yvonne were absolute stars and brought home made soup and various red cross parcels to keep us alive. Rob got antibiotics and an inhaler when he dragged himself to the Doctors after a week. I on the other hand was told to go away and not to scratch. We are none of us 100% yet but all now functioning after a fashion. I do not rule out that I might have had chicken pox as it is going around but the Doctor didn't recognise my spots as such but then I had scratched them to within an inch of their lives. She says they are just a reaction to the virus.