Well, been a busy couple of weeks, what with working in Sweden, getting ready to go to NZ and getting ready to move onto IRIS. I’ve been taking advantage of a week working at home to do some more painting that I originally planned, recoating most of the inside in ‘eggshell’ white. Fresh paint smells nice anyway.

I solved a problem with the engine room filling up with water – turns out one of the automatic bilge pumps wasn’t working, so it was gradually re-filling. With a bit of luck this will also explain the water that was found under the floor in the kitchen and bathroom areas.

The Sterling batter charger was replaced under warranty and apart from one scary moment when it tripped out under the load of the discharged cabin batteries, seems to be working fine.

As part of moving on board I’ve been getting rid of a lot of stuff, I didn’t think I have that much to start with, but local charity shops are now bursting at the seams with things that won’t really fit on a boat.

The under deck area still needs trim, but I’m going to see how I like sleeping under there first. My previous plans were lengthways down the boat, but the mattress seems to fit well into the space crossways. Even seems to work well with my height being close to the width of the boat.


Here is another shot, looking from the under deck area.

I’ve installed fenders on the bow and stern, I got these from http://www.fendermakerltd.co.uk, very quick service and no VAT!




This enabled me to turn the boat round and moor stern to the dock. This allows me to access the engine room, and then get into the main cabin via the side door.

For me the real benefit is that instead of the front doors opening out onto the dock, I now have a bit of ‘space’ as show by this picture taken early this morning.

I managed to back IRIS out and turn round on my own, which was fun, Dave from the boat next door helped with the lines from the dock in between working on his boat.. These things basically don’t steer in reverse, so occasional bursts of forward are required to swing the stern round..

Another productive weekend, with lots of different things done. Mat helped me out both Saturday and Sunday and we managed to get rid of the water under the bilges, build some shelves, finish the wall at the front of the boat, remove the carpet and have a general cleanout. On Sunday we were joined by Caoilfhionn, Mat’s girlfriend, and we went on a little trip up to Sonning so we could paint the side decks. While we were doing this, Caoilfhionn gave the under deck area a coat of primer. There is still lots to do, but at least its getting close to the stage where I can move on before I head off to NZ at the end of the month. Made a real difference having some help as its easier to stay motivated when so much is getting done.

This picture shows Mat and Caoilfhionn looking keen before work on Sunday.

These two shots were taken up near Sonning while we worked on the boat (and read a Sunday supplement article about ‘what makes women happy’ – boats didn’t feature for some reason….....)






Here is Caoilfhionn painting under the deck



This shot show the interior at the end of the weekend, surprising how different it looks without carpet.




Oh, and as a bonus the fridge started working as we went up the Thames. I can only guess that the battery voltage had run a little low or something – who knows.

We also got rid of the biggest spider that I've ever seen in the UK. It appeared on the roof of the boat as we were leaving the marina. If it had come towards me I would have abandoned ship. Mat put it in a spare tupperware container we had and we let it out at Sonning. Pretty sure it was a black widow. Hope there are no more of that size on board.....

Not a great deal to report this weekend, sent the battery charger off to be repaired or replaced, hopefully for low/no cost.

I finished the ceiling under the deck and gave it a coat of oil. While that was drying I started framing the back (front) wall and threw in a little extra ballast while I was there. The front door lock could only be opened from the inside which was irritating, so I took that apart and fixed it.

That seemed to take most of Sunday, amazing really. Also discovered that gravel has been used as ballast under the kitchen, so looks like another mine-laying trip down the Thames is on the cards.