Almost 3/4 of the way there….

  
Hoovering shit (sand, sawdust, rust dust) out of the bilge. And yes, that dirt all over my face is indeed dirt. Roll on the weekend!

But the engine room is now looking spotless! Good thing as I’m not keen to do that Again.

There are a few remaining portholes that didn’t go up to Daveys and need something doing with them. As budgets are running low, we thought we’d have crack ourselves.

   
    
    
   
Basically using ALL the power tools, a lot of elbow grease and some ad libbing. They need a final go over with a mop attachment but the results, although nowhere near as good as the professional efforts, aren’t bad.

 
The windows are in. A bit of drilling, caulking cotton and sikaflex and they are looking fabulous. Worth the money on the brass bolts.  
 

Most boat jobs seem to take about three months to come to fruition, involve a whole host of parts and equipment that I don’t have or expensive bolts, and generally look way way worse for a long time before they start to look better. Well praise be, this wasn’t one of them. In merely an afternoon with a bit of elbow grease, a sander and varnish, the steps down into the boat have been transformed.

From this…

  
Half way done and sanded

  
To this…

   
   
Just need one more coat and to give the brass a rub and we are away! 😊👏🏻🙌🏻👍🏼

A lot of the deck furniture is now in place, sane for a very large and very useful vent. This can be positioned to face into the wind thereby providing excellent ventilation below deck. The only catch is that the mouth of the vent is so big it will also need something to stop the rain coming in too. Namely a dorade box (a good word to remember scrabble fans!).

  
Fortunately Ian the carpenter knocked one up pronto using some plywood and the bits of drainage pipe that were randomly hanging around behind the caravan. Result!

   
    
    
 
It will all be painted to tone in with its surroundings but then it will look fabulous!

The success-fail ratio has (touch wood) changed to three steps forward, one step back and we have definitely gone up a gear.

Good things from today:

1) sanded the maroon painted steps (who paints anything with maroon paint?!) and underneath, the wood is beautiful and the stairs definitely reusable.

From this…

  
 
To this (half finished but you get the idea)

  
  2) the deck furniture is painted, the mounting pads are ready and, as soon as we have bolts, it will all go back on.
  

  
3) bits of the fittings on the bow deck have been painted… The chain locker lid, the tube and the vents. Once again, jotamastic 87 is truly amazing. Dimples and pits be gone! I think it would work wonders for cellulite too as the ultimate in body paint.

   
 
And the one step back? The little generator that could now can’t. After servicing and tinkering to the exhaust d even the addition of skis to aid mobility, it couldn’t keep going and has gone to the big junkyard in the sky. A little annoying but I am assured a move to diesel is the way forward.

And looking rather spectacular

   
 
The wheel also got the same treatment…

   
    
 
Turns out it was made in Scotland of all places… Simpson Lawrence of Glasgow.

  
And a quick test to check it all works…

Trying to clear gunky sand sawdust mix and minging water from bottom of bilge. Cramped hot and plenty of metal ribs to whack your shins on. 😢

  
Hand pumping water from here

  
To here