Rain stopped play

Scrubbed down both gunwhales with a stiff brush and some lemon 'one for all' cleaner, to kill off the green algae, prior to painting.

Just finished up in the engine bay, when big chunks of hail started pinging off of the roof. The sun then came out for 20 minutes. Just enough time to lift the deck boards and resume the drying out process, before we were subjected to another deluge. This time, rain. Deckboards were hastily replaced. Then it heaved it down solid, for another two hours.

Good news is that I wasn't out there painting anything.
Bad news is that nothing much will get done outside today.

Took these photos of the bow fender shackles (before it chucked it down), so that I would know how, and in what order, to replace them...

Speeding Boater

Narrowmindedboatworld rejoice in this news story, about a boater that was fined for speeding on the Thames. Quite an expensive day trip..

Magistrates slam speeding boater

Awww Mate

An elderly labrador just bounced past the windows. He had obvious hip problems, but he was still out enjoying himself with a tennis ball. Which made me miss Sumo, very much. This is the longest I've ever been away from him. Sheena says that he doesn't appear to miss me, at all. But that's understandable, as animals live in the moment.

I'm looking forward to giving him a big hug.
And throwing 'chuckie ring' for him to run after.

Old Man Hands

haha.... the 'Formula #1' de-greaser worked a bit too well. It's dried out all the natural oils from my hands, making them look about 90. Must purchase myself some moisturiser.

Birchwood

Alan and Sue are nice people. Always happy, without being nauseatingly cheerful or smug. They've been living on the river for three years now, in their 27ft Birchwood GRP cruiser (£130,000 excluding tax). A quick google image trawl reveals the style of floating accommodation that sort of money will buy you..




If you run over a Tesco's shopping trolley, I guess it would be quite expensive to fix the resulting damage. So, in that respect, I actually prefer our cheapass ding proof steel. But I wouldn't tell them that.

Marlow Donkey

Thankfully, this is one branchline that idiotic Lord Beeching didn't get to rip up, when he set about destroying the rest of England's rail transport network. Due to his actions, the small cottage industries of Devon died, virtually overnight. And they've never really recovered. But you can still get to Marlow by train. A distant echo from less hurried times.

Guess where the steam Donkey went to?
Here's a clue...

Alive, well, loved and cherished.

Bollocks to you, Lord Beeching.
You bloody fool.

Formula #1

"You have degreased down there, haven't you?"


Damn...Surveying our thoroughly cleaned and hoovered out engine room, I thought I was done. But it turns out I was prematurely pleased with myself, because the undercoat won't stick to a greasy surface. So we had to stump up for a bottle of 'Formula 1' degreaser. Initially baulked at the cost of £7.90, but it managed to turn a day long job into one that was easily accomplished in a couple of hours. Figure it was worth it for all the time, hassle and kettle boiling that was saved.


14 buckets of oily sooty gunge was wiped off surfaces that I thought I'd already cleaned down. But now it's gleaming, and it can it all dry out nicely overnight. Then, I'll slap some rustkiller on it, and it'll be ready for the red oxide primer.

Not a terribly pleasant job.
But it's done now.