And the beat goes on

Well, it’s Sunday evening, and we’re still here, still painting and still doing other stuff. We’re having fabulous summer weather, getting very hot as the day moves on, but often cold at night. We’ve woken to 12 degrees some mornings – that’s inside the boat – but it doesn’t take long for the sun to warm us up, and there’s always the Alde boiler to run the central heating for a while if we want. We’re not complaining.

Maximum at the top, minimum at the bottom, current in the middle

We’re surprised that it’s so quiet here. We’ve not had more than two other boats with us on this long stretch of lovely moorings, and sometimes we’ve been totally alone.

This is what we wake up to every morning!

My painting jobs are finished for now, apart from the taff-rail, which needs a second coat of paint, and the starboard side of the hull, which doesn’t need much done to it and is waiting for us to turn the boat around so that I can do it. Grace has to have completed her port-side painting. That’s going really well, but there's no hurrying it. The heat is something of a problem to Grace. The paint just doesn't apply well if it's too hot, and it dries too quickly. Work can only be done when the sun's not on the painting.

While Grace is doing that, I’m doing lots of small jobs that have been awaiting my attention for some time. It’s very gratifying to get them done – sticking doors, dull brass, blinds that need cleaning, pictures to hang. And vacuum cleaning needs to be done daily! CRT have recently cut the grass here, so there’s a fair bit of it on the carpets by the end of each day.

The engine needs a bit of attention, but I’m not the guy to give it. But I know a man who can, and I’m in touch with Colin to arrange for him to take a look. The problem – minor at the moment – is a weeping of coolant from between the top and bottom halves of the exhaust output manifold. At least, I think that’s what it is! It does have the exhaust pipe coming out of it, after all! A gasket needs to be replaced perhaps.

My new book’s growing fast, and I’m really, really loving writing it. It’s not a travelogue like the first two “feet” books. Nor is it a practical book like the third. This one is fiction, not so much about boating, but rather about two people and a dog who live on a boat. Confused? You’ll have to buy it, though I have little idea of when it’ll be ready for publication.