Calm Follows the Storm...

A full day today working on the boat!  The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky and the tarp came off to do some sanding and get the second coat of varnish on.  The boat is booked to go back in the water in April so we're hoping the recent stormy weather over the past few weeks will now abate so we can start to build up those valuable extra layers of varnish.

Work today on the cabin sides and the cockpit ... Link to Cockpit Page

What to do on a Stormy Weekend ........

Simple really ...... you can't do anything on your boat at the boatyard as it's too windy and wet (apart from go to see that everything is secured and tied down), so you work on the stuff at home in your garage!

Third coat of varnish on the locker covers......  Link to Locker Covers page

Night Shift ...

So the night shifts begin ... locker covers sanded to 180 grit and second coat of varnish applied (75%).

Link to Locker Covers Page

Long Time No Report ................

What a frustrating few weeks! Sorry I haven't updated my blog but there hasn't been much to tell as the weather here, like elsewhere in the UK, has been shocking! The endless storms have meant that we have had to take advantage of any weather windows we could to get down to the boat to do some sanding.  We were hoping to be much further forward at this stage!

Our deadline has been relieved a little though as we've talked with Sam Heard (the son of the original boatbuilder) and decided to replace the gunwhales next winter.

Still, that said, good news today was that we were sufficiently sheltered enough in our spot on the quay to get the first coat of varnish on the cockpit and cabin sides!  Now we're cooking!  :-).  The nice thing also was that when the sun shone there was actually some warmth in it.........

Link to Cockpit Refurbishment Page

At home yesterday I got the first coat of varnish on the locker covers so good weekend all round really!

Link to Locker Covers Page

To be continued.....   

Weather Gets in the Way .....

Things have been quiet over the last couple of weekends as Christmas shopping and the weather has got in the way!

We've popped down to the boat to check her over a couple of times after some nasty weather fronts but pleased to say the winter cover has done it's job. We made a minor adjustment to it yesterday to extend the frame further over the stern as the tarpaulin was letting a bit of rain in, but apart from that all ok.

A few days off over Christmas so we're hoping to get some real progress made - weather and socialising permitting!

More Sanding........

This weekend, more work sanding the cockpit and starting to strip the cabin sides (link to Cockpit )

I've also managed to strip one of the locker covers at home so I can now see the potential of how nice they'll look when they're all done (link to Locker Covers.

We're both suffering from the effects of using flimsy disposable gloves that don't stand up to 60 grit sandpaper. Lots of handcream will be in use this evening to limit the damage!

One lesson learned last weekend of not wearing filtration masks resulted in us both having difficulty with our noses / sinuses during the week. However, this weekend we were sensible and bought some masks suitable for sanding dust that weren't too uncomfortable to wear for long periods - pleased to report that so far we're not feeling any ill effects like we were this time last weekend!

This weekend's work...........

This could start to get boring but sanding has started on the cockpit........  one point though... we're so pleased to be close to a power source (directly behind us - a bonus this year as we're normally two extension leads away!)

Latest update here ..... Cockpit Page