Marigolds

Awoke at 9.00am, because the marina dwellers decided to have a banter underneath the bedroom windows. It's sunny again today, but there is a nasty cold wind blowing. Weather app says it's only 4 degrees out there, so i'm hiding out inside the boat, trying not to pop the fuses. The carpark overflowed with so many shiny and expensive vehicles, it was comical. All over the place, people buffed up their boats with the marigolds on. One old bloke even had an ice lolly! Which I thought was a tad premature.


To give this lady full credit, she took her boat our for a short cruise, then pulled off a nifty bit of reversing to get it back to the water point, and then onto the finger pontoon where she lives. She made it all look very easy, though I doubt that it was.

Over the last few days, i've hassled poor Peter about paint so much, his eyes have started to glaze over. But I've finally sorted out and ordered what we need. The boat's original scheme was done with 'international' paints. The 'Rylard' tins I found knocking about were for 'touching up' (concealing dents) with. But, unfortunately, they're the wrong shades... So i've ordered the right ones. Mauritius Blue and Donegal Green. Oh, and some non-slip textured stuff for the roof and gunwales.

I also found this handy reference of Narrowboat terms, in case you're still wondering where the 'Swim' is.

No work today. Therefore no progress pictures. Sorry. Our good friend Graham popped down from Oxford, and we spent the afternoon nattering. The raw wind never stopped, and now the sun has gone in, the temperature has plummeted again. The vactan on the starboard side still hasn't cured properly, because of the low temperatures. So I think tomorrow will be spent in the engine room. It's not a great job, but it needs doing, and at least I'll be out of the wind. The rest of the roof and bitumen painting can wait until it's warmer.

This winter is certainly persistent. I think people are fed up with it now though. I know I am.