I can’t lie, January is not a great time of year for all things boat. There is a reason why they built a windfarm in Rye and when the wind barrels in from the sea, the conditions can feel subarctic. Frozen fingers do not make carpentry an easy exercise and even the best winter thinners cannot cope with painting in these circumstances.  

That said, there has been progress. The deck is gradually being replaced and patched and repaired until now there are more finished, polished up bits than troublesome areas. As the teak we have is not unlimited, this involves careful calculations by Ian the carpenter about what to use where and how best to make use of different lengths.   

 Also, rather pleasingly different areas of the deck that had been replaced have weathered up beautifully turning from orange to buff through to an ashy grey.
 

In the process of replacing some rotten lengths, Ian even uncovered some of the elusive caulking cotton that escaped us before when we raked the seams over the summer. We only found enough for a very mean roll up but there is enough for a camberwell carrot here.  

So there you go…. The deck is coming along and is pretty much ready for caulking. Now we just need a couple of clear weeks of good weather for that to happen. Hopefully early March – we are praying to the goddess of spring to come early!!