Happy New Year

On By Carol LawLeave a comment

Happy New Year to you all.

And so another year begins. The weather has been dreadful, it’s barely stopped raining. We are digging in to get the inside of the boat finished while the weather is not great. Hopefully to be finished when things improve outside, then outside to get the decks, hull and walkways stripped , repaired and painted.

The forward cabin has been started but the rain has revealed damp patches underneath where the walkway runs outside and the window is. Having taken the wood off today it’s revealed that everything is dripping wet and the steel has bad rust and has disintegrated.

So back to bare , treating and renewing after drying out. Then new insulation and board. Hopefully then completely watertight.

So onwards and upwards. Back to work we go.

Christmas 2021

On By Carol LawLeave a comment

Here’s hoping you all had a happy and healthy Christmas. Things have been very quiet and while the weather hasn’t been too cold here it’s been rainy foggy and misty.

Having finished decorating the small bathroom am now on the twin cabin next to it .

Trying to work our way through updating and cleaning and repairing. We are still hopefully going to be able to finally get the boat out of the water next year after the delay dues to the pandemic but not taking anything for granted at the moment.

Wishing everyone a happy New Year .

Autumn slides in

On By Carol LawLeave a comment

For October the weather has been glorious. Interspersed with days of somewhat torrential rain there has been long days of almost summer like sun.

As always the list of jobs to tackle is never ending. Having got somewhat fed up of waiting for tradespeople to give quotes or commit we have decided that actually with some research we can pretty much tackle most things ourselves.

T has over the past week taken out the rotten wood trim around the boat and replaced it. He’s done such a great job you can’t even tell where he’s been! It’s a relief to get it done and know it’s protected I don’t think it would have fared well over another winter.

We’re taking a 2 pronged approach to things. While T tackles the outside I’m renovating the inside. Currently on the bottom toilet ( I know not technical boat speak ! ) It’s amazing how a bit of modernization can transform things. Definitely needed doing.

Now on a roll we’ve started on the front of the boat to get protected by winter

All change

On By Carol LawLeave a comment

It’s been another crazy few weeks. We dug in and completed our project boat and put it up for sale. Within the week it was sold and the new people were so excited to take ownership they came a day early for collection.

On our big boat we finally got round to an oil change. After almost 5 hours and around 36 litres of new oil the engines are purring. It goes without saying that it’s not what you know but who you know and the help of an experienced engineer friend was invaluable.

And finally our other boat , the Mitchell fishing boat , has a new propeller. After servicing the engine and still not getting quite the speed expected T decided after talking with our Marina guru that a new prop was the way to go. After scouring the country via eBay he found a set of 2 on Gumtree of all places.

The beauty of a mud mooring is that when the to tide goes out you have a window of opportunity to get work done on areas below water. Everything went smoothly and in no time the props were swapped.

Whilst working on the prop it was discovered that the rudder was loose …. so off it came and a new bracket made. A clean up , sand off and coat of anti foul and now it looks as good as new. Test run done and it’s now feeling turbo charged! Job done.

Cleaned up rudder looking very smart

Boat project

On By Carol LawLeave a comment

Our boat project is finally nearing completion. We’ve started snagging bits working from the back forward and the end is in sight . Thank goodness. It’s been a long project that really should have been completed some months ago . A combination of lockdown, work and day to day life has dragged it out .

We’ve learned a lot and any future projects we’ll definitely do differently now we know what works and doesn’t.

Up for sale so fingers crossed

Environmental

On By Carol LawLeave a comment

Our boat is moored on a very small marina in what is a beautiful conservation area. From dawn to dusk and beyond we are surrounded by wildlife. Herons ,egrets ,gulls of all sorts , oyster catchers, mullet , bass, crabs and moon jellyfish are all around along with swans and geese. There is always something to sit and watch.

Environmental impact is something we all are aware of and have a responsibility for , and since moving aboard the boat is something we have felt we need to reduce. Now that we are heading back to some kind of normality we are starting to look at sourcing and using products which have minimal or zero impact on the surrounding environment, or offset any negativity in some way.

So I’ve started with the laundry and am currently trying out methods orchard fruits and so far am very happy with the results. As other products are finished I’ll swap them over as well . Obviously these things are a little pricier than the usual products but hopefully by changing them in gradually the extra cost will be absorbed slowly into the budget.

It’s only when you start researching these products you realise just how many there are out there which is great for the consumer and the environment.

Method orchard fruits

The Heat is on and we get another boat

On By Carol LawLeave a comment

Just when you think summer is going to be a wash out ,after days of chilly weather and torrential rain out , comes the sun for a blast of heat. It’s never a gentle warm up just comes in like a wave to fry you one minute then makes you flag in humidity the next.

We are it seems building a fleet of boats having bought another. A Mitchell fishing boat, to be able to make the most of any good weather , we can get out on the tide quickly. Our main boat needs a fairly large tide and has a half hour set up before we can go anywhere , so for short trips another boat was the perfect idea.

Electrical upgrade

On By Carol LawLeave a comment

After months of waiting and many soggy trips to reset the electrics in the night after they trip in the rain , our marina is finally getting a long overdue upgrade.

Smart new pods have gone in and I can hear the electricians dragging the cable along as I lay in bed with my morning cuppa.

If you’ve ever been in a smaller marina not part of the bigger chains you’ll probably have experience of slightly iffy electrics.

Hopefully for us now that’s all in the past but not at the expense of more expensive electric.

Our new smart plug in points

Summer arrives

On By Carol LawLeave a comment

Winter hung on for so long this year that I wondered if we would ever get any decent weather then all of a sudden bam! From 10 degrees c to 25 c almost overnight and now we’re all wilting in the heat !

We’ve decided to start on painting the hull even though we’ve not come out of the water. T has been doing the work inbetween tides and while it has proven to be difficult it is effective and it’s starting to look much better.

The hope is that by the time we do come out of the water alot of work will have been completed and it will literally just be about the hull .

In between this our project boat is back in full swing . The outside painting is almost finished then it’s inside for a final push to get done and on the market. We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Somewhere in all this we need to squeeze in some fun with the kids and some relaxation. Time to enjoy the nice weather and get out and about.

Beautiful summer morning

Where is Spring?

On By Carol LawLeave a comment

It’s been a long cold winter here and still it hangs on. In about 6 weeks time it will be the longest day of the year and the nights will start drawing in again, and yet it barely feels like we have finished with winter. It’s still chilly and wet and waves of stormy weather blow through. In some parts of the UK there are still wintry showers and there was a frost somewhere in the UK every day in April.

Normally by now the shorts and flip flops start to make an appearance but it’s definitely winter coats and boots still. You can start the day with rolling waves and gale force winds, torrential rain and end with glorious sunshine. I’m not sure how it bodes for summer.

Over the next few weeks we are all set to come out of lockdown and restrictions are being lifted. Some sort of construction has started on the old wharf next to the marina so we could be set for a summer of noisy building works but no one is very sure what is going on , however our mornings over the past few days have started with thumping and banging . I’m not sure the nesting swans appreciate it much either.