... in the dock, blacking Still Rockin's bottom!
Monday (13th) while I gave the water-line another coat of bitumen, George started to prepare a few scratches on the gunwales ...
ready for a coat of gloss paint.
48 hours after applying the first coat of blacking it's time for another coat ... and the opening of another tin of bitumen ...
and so to work!
We finished work a bit earlier on Tuesday as our son was coming to stay the night and we'd decided to go to the Swan and Bottle for our evening meal ... a great evening!
Wednesday was a later start after a bacon and mushroom breakfast and son Mark had left ...
the yard was busy, boats being moved, boats going into the canal and boats being craned out ...
and the welding equipment came to Still Rockin'
The eight sacrificial anodes fitted to our hull on the build of Still Rockin' are still in good order and should last until she comes out of the water again in a couple of years but we decided that two more wouldn't go amiss on the swim either side of the propeller.
Today, Thursday (16th) the whole of the hull has had its third and last coat of bitumen which will give it 48 hours to dry before being refloated ...
and there was a visit from the Canal and River Trust to the dock ...
to inspect the gates ...
which are a bit leaky.
These gates were installed in 1988 so are 30 years old and will likely be replaced in 2020.
George has found a few small rust spots on the roof and also lots of tree sap from a recent mooring; he needs to wash and T-cut the roof before he can treat and retouch those areas.
Tomorrow (Friday) will be our last day ... when we need to refit the bow and stern fenders and chains, get rid of the empty paint tins and rubbish, put the flowers back on the roof ... a general cleaning up day!
On Saturday we leave the dock ...
watch this space.
2 comments:
It's been a while :) Always look forward to your posts ... just don't have the hours in my day to reply!!
Welcome back to the ditch. Uxbridge Boat 'Thingy' has a special place in our canal life, it's the only time I've fallen in (so far!). Trying to get back on board after a front only lift out I slipped on wet gunnels. Much cheering all round !! To be honest I'm still happy I went in without hitting anything, as you'll know it's all a bit nip and tuck there.
More Memory Lane stuff ... love the Swan & Bottle, I had my 21st birthday party there, sooo long ago :) We always stop there on our way to the Thames.
Hope the blacking went OK, a hard job for sure. Will you turn round now and head back to the Thames or keep chugging up the GU?
We are desperately trying to organize our life to head down the GU and onto the Thames for summer. To be honest it's a mess ... but we'll get there somehow.
Hopefully we'll cross paths with you sometime soon and head off to a nice pub for a catchup. Really looking forward to that.
All the very best
P&C
Newlands
Hi Paul, long time no hear!
Thanks for the comments. We're leaving Uxbridge in the morning and heading back to the Thames. Hope you manage to get thing sorted at your end and get back on the Thames sometime in the summer.
We're doing a boat swap with Lisa and David on What a Lark in July so we'll be on the narrow canals for 3-4 weeks and they'll be on Still Rockin' on the Thames!
Hope to meet up with you both somewhere along the way for that nice pub catchup.
Carol.
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