Frustrations and Successes

It’s been over a month since I last updated this blog and we’ve really struggled with many aspects of our new life.  We had hoped to be on the water many weeks ago but as I type this we are still on the boatyard slipway and watching the latest spring tide come and go.  This is a real frustration for us.  We are dependent on a spring tide to float us off the cradle and allow us to move down the creek to our mooring, but we are a long way off being ready to leave the protection of the covered slip.  Bleat over, what have we been up to since my last post?



The main leap forwards is that we have completed the replacement of the deck.  Sheathing with fibreglass cloth and epoxy resin was a really unpleasant job.  Not only is it very messy, it was also difficult to get a really good result.  Overall, it’s not perfect but it will give strength and protection to the underlying wood.  It also has had two coats of 2-pack epoxy primer ready for several coats of deck paint.  We decided that we would be able to improve the deck finish over time if any issues arise – one of the advantages of living aboard I suppose.

The topsides have also received much attention.  Bridget has sanded and painted, and sanded and painted, and sanded and painted!  We opted for Epifanes #24 for our colour choice.  It is a lovely, creamy off-white colour that suits the teak superstructure well.  We intend to put a couple of further coats on before we hit the water, but I’m anxious to get the toe rails, rubbing strips and guard rails fitted whilst we have the staging around the hull.







We have found it immensely satisfying to start putting things back on.  We have refitted the forward hatch which was the final stage of making the boat watertight once again.  We do get some rain falling onto the bow, despite the tarpaulins, which trickles down through the hatch opening, so finally being able to shut this over was a significant milestone.  We have also refitted the deck filler caps for the fuel and water tanks.



The big achievement was finally fitting the wood stove.  This is a major investment into our future comfort, so we wanted to get it right.  We chose the Hobbit stove from Salamander Stoves in Devon.  That was the easy bit……working out how to fit a flue and what material to use for heat protection proved more of a challenge!  We finally decided on using heat resistant tiles on a cement-board backer, with a 2cm air gap between the backboards and bulkheads.  We think the overall look is fabulous and will become a real focal point for our new ‘living room’.  We opted for the ‘canal boat’ flue fitting kit as the nearest match to our situation which uses a twin-wall pipe to reduce the heat transfer to surrounding material.  However, this meant cutting a 9-inch hole in the roof of our saloon.  I tell you, nothing focusses the mind more than cutting large holes into your boat – measure 10 times, cut once!  Anyway, the deed is done.

So, we have a lot to do yet, and we hope to finally take to the water in a fortnight’s time when, hopefully, there’ll be enough water to float us off the cradle and finally onto our mooring.



Till next time……………