Monday morning came and we were both up early for an 8 o'clock start, still cold but not snowing which was great. The guys at Streethay called for boats to be moved so that we could get onto the slipway as soon as the boat inside was moved out, the whole place became a hive of activity.

We moved our boat off the mooring and went to turn around, which went well and as soon as the re-blacked boat was off the slipway we made our way in. Once we were lined up, Nick, the owner climbed aboard to get the boat on the submerged trolley and we were soon being lifted out of the water.

 

Nick sauntering about

 

The boat was soon high and dry on the slip and under the poly tunnel and time for the work to start and after a discussion with Nick, we decided to black the bottom while it was out. It wasn't long before Mark, one of the guys here started work to repair the dent from last year. Inspection and method discussions of he started to cut out the damage.

 

Mark cutting out the damage

It wasn't long before the damage section was removed and being eased the top gunnel dent being released popped back out. Mark then skillfully formed the new rubbing strake section and began to weld it back in and returning the bow curve back to it's original shape. A good clean up of the weld and a coat of primer later his job was done and time for the blacking to be started.

By the end of the day we had the first coat of blacking on the boat covering the waterline ready for the first full coat on Tuesday.

 

Tuesday 26th, with the waterline coat done the day was spent applying the first full coat of blacking. We also got a couple of other jobs done like fitting the skirting and the nylon top hatch sliders, which I had machined back at home during the winter. The top hatch has never been so good, sliding easily and much quieter.

The skin of the boat showed signs of electrolysis but was in great condition, the sacrificial anodes were not to bad so we decided not to change them. The rudder and bushes were all in a great state so all we will do here is the repack with grease before it goes backing the water.

 

On the comfort side, we are keeping the stove lit and are using the heating to give us a supply of hot water. All at Peace.