The Clocks go Back

All over the northern hemisphere the clocks change tonight and we all experience collective jet lag for a day or three until the body clock gets back into synchronicity. Then it’s Halloween and then (in England) Bonfire night and before you know it it will be Christmas (except in Scotland, where it’s been cancelled by the wee lassie with the pursed lips and her team). The local shops (those that are still in business) are aleady garlanded and, I have no doubt, teams of Elves are churning out expensive “Holly and Ivy” , or Reinder and Robin face masks, so that we can all look even more ridiculous – paricularly when we wear that “Christmas” pullover ¹ that has ben cowering in the drawer since last Boxing Day. ²

In the meantime there’s been a little progress in the boat shed. She’s now on the trailer. After much thought, suitable lengths of wood were scrounged from the surroundings, lots of bricks were piled on top of each other and levers applied to stout parts of the boat. She was lifted and pushed sideways. The trailer was inched past and she was pushed sideways the other way and lowered onto the bare trailer. Then came the task of sorting out bits of the trailer that were meant to take the load and adjusting them to evenly distibute the weight.

I’d fogotten to put an eye in the bow to secure her. With some trepidation, I drilled a 1 inch hole across the boat, immediately behind the Utilie stem post. Then a hole (longitudinally this time) through the post. The threaded stem of an eye bolt was pushed into the hole and a nut pursuaded to screw onto the stem. The hole was then filld with epoxy and it all looked as goods as new…….Will it stand the strain when hauling her onto the trailer? Time will tell.

Now it was time to get on with other stuff

Like Fairing the deck.

Putting the filler on was easy – it’s the rubbing it all off again that takes the time. Luckily (?) the weather had turned cold and you will notice that the elegant Swallow Yachts woolly hat has made a reappearance (and the scruffy overalls). It was so parky a couple of days that I lit the woodburning stove. Or, at least I tried to light it. It puffed smoke furiously into the shed. ‘The chimney must be cold’ I thought and suffed a burning piece of paper up it. That didn’t work. ‘The damper must be stuck’ I thought. Yes- stuck open.

So it’s not the damper. There’s only one thing for it, take the chimney apart.

Yep! It’s the chimney.

Now we can keep warm. I expect the weather will get warmer too.

Notes

1. Pullover = jumper
2. Boxing Day = St Stevens Day