Thursday 23 June 2011

Ready, steady

Hanging out in the West Harbour
Are you ever truly ready? Probably not, but we are getting to the stage of being ready enough. We've been beavering away at home improvements. It has been a good thing living on the boat for almost four weeks before departure, getting used to the new paraffin cooker, stowing and tweaking things.

The paraffin heater and Jim's improvised tarpaulin vestibule have seen a lot of action. Lots of rain can be trying on a small boat, even with heating! It's sometimes been a struggle to get the washing dry.

Since we've only taken Fettler out of the harbour four times since launching in April (yes, the weather has been that bad), we decided to slip the vessel this morning for cleaning and antifouling - and it was badly needed.
Impressive barnacle growth in only three months

Extra coat of antifouling in not the best working position

And presto: a clean hull! Just the thing for the start of the voyage.

Departure next week looks distinctly possible. First port Whitby or so we intend.

3 comments:

Marc said...

Never let it be said that you have abandoned the working world. Busy, busy!

Jim_Brodie said...

It could even be said that we've never worked harder in our lives...

Jill said...

Hi guys! I saw a blurb in the Smithsonian on how we should be eating edible invasives, specifically the mustard, and it reminded me of test nibbling with you two at Magee Marsh. So I logged on and happily caught up with your very BUSY lives. Missing you terribly, be safe, and have an awesome, awesome voyage.
JJ