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Website started 24th February 2000

Land Owner wants us out !. Fixing in place the aft deck 2nd layer plywood. January to March 1994.

8/1/94

Wet start to the New Year. No storm damage to the shed or boat. Wood/Timber had absorbed considerable amount of water. This is ideal for water based Cascamite, but not for epoxy.

4/2/94

Having ordered screws from the Stainless Steel place we went over to collect them today. Very pleasant today and by paying cash for the screws, got a good discount. We had every reason to feel happy. Plus of course we had tried out our new Mud and Snow back tyres on the van. It seemed an easier drive up the field, and it was very soft after lots of recent rain. Another rat seen in the lane tonight.

5/2/94

Over Christmas Les H had kindly brought back the circular saw for us to use. We came to plug all back in and noticed the plug was able to be fitted either way round (a two pin circular plug). Took it apart to decipher which pin was live, and to see which is live on the machine, and uncovered a 13a fuse, which had been drilled out and a piece of wire threaded through. Is this fuse wire or not ?. When the plug was fitted one way it made the whole machine live. Eeek. Being careful and using an electrical screwdriver on the saw frame, it lit up. The blade was wobbly. It was a new blade Les had bought for doing his patio. We investigated and it was not seated 100%, and the ring inserted in the centre of the blade was standing proud on the back surface, and uneven. A quick grind down on the ring, and fitted it all back, and the blade ran much better in line. Set to getting out as many 1 Ό stainless steel screws from the outer edges of the ply already epoxied down. Managed about 15 only. Others were stuck fast. Replaced these with Ύ" stainless steel screws. This means only the tip is protruding underneath the deck, easier for pacing with ply later. The rest of the 1 Ό screws will need grinding down flush. Very wet and damp today. Max temp 10degrees. We are a little further on, with the boat than we remembered, and given the temperature there is plenty of epoxying to do. Saw a boat in the marina last night using Shrink wrap as a tent. Good Idea !.

10/2/94

Temperature barely above 5degrees therefore not much done. Had a look at the cradle. It was not suitable for moving the boat on . It will need either strengthening or replacing. Ideally need castors on it, so it can easily be manoeuvred. As it is now , the middle and aft cross members are bending. With the increase in weight above, something needs doing below ASAP, We could make good use of the wheels Les H used for pulling his boat out of the shed. Must ask if he has still got them !.

12/2/94

Sunny and mild, but having got to the boat, sun disappeared and bitter cold wind arose. Asked Les H about the wheels, when we saw him. His boat weighed 8 tonne so ours will be more like 5-6 tonne. Les H suggested work on it being 7 tonne to be safe. He said we were welcome to utilise the wheels. He was not sure if the axles remained in the shed, thought he had disposed of them!. 

13/2/94

 Not much could be done this weekend, so picked up the wheels and left for home.

19/2/94

Having had late night last night installing telephone cables in our new home, arrived midday today. John H had been up since last weekend. Also we thought the fencing near the gate had been cut back as if someone had gained entry. Maybe, Maybe not. Nothing appeared amiss. Bitter cold today again – not much we could do. Fell asleep about 16:30pm and woke up 20:15pm. We must have been tired. The marina bar is the place to be Saturday evenings. Live music. Good Blues band there tonight, followed by Kebab from a newly opened place. Then to bed with hot water bottles.

20/2/94

Temperature registered Zero on the boat and woke up to flurries of snow. Not much if anything could be done today, so decided to seek out some Chandlerys we had not yet visited.

Oh yes during the week the wheels were cleaned down and painted up with blue hammerite. A transformation took place. All the grease and rust was painstakingly scraped off first, then we brushed them down before painting. Each wheel will need to take 1.5-2 tonne. Hard to imagine it…

26/2/94

Lance got bad stomach. Ulcers playing up exceptionally  this weekend – so missed the boat. Stayed at home. Plenty of jobs to be done.

5/3/94

Arrived last night 23:30pm to find a boat squeezed into the shed next to ours. Our steps had been turned around, and the outside workbench, covered with a brown tarpaulin, had been stupidly sandwiched between the workshop concrete steps and our brown steps up to the boat. It was totally unusable in this position. The brown tarpaulin was the one that our Schmargd Hull was covered with before we bought her!. Our thoughts were unprintable. Would it have been done if we had been here last weekend ?. No doubt it is Gary H’s boat – but how are we supposed to work in these conditions. Are they pushing us out ?. Does someone expect use of the workshop and planer and saw, and not to mention the electric. Neither of us could sleep for some time contemplating respective/corrective action. Was it all because of the wheels !. First thing Saturday morning popped to Les H to pay the rent and expressed our shock of last night. Les H knew about it and asked if we can use the bench ok. We said no because it is squashed in and we needed it as it was for working with the long lengths(18') of timber. No-one else appeared today – not even John H – let alone Gary H. Anyway after much thought regarding the situation we decided in our best interest to detatch the wooden steps, and turn the top 'platform' of the steps back as it used to be (it is wider one way than the other), and to marry it up to our ‘doorway’ onto the boat, and refix the steps to the side, then facing the van. Then we moved the bench – all ten tonne of it up the steps towards the workshop. Got Ύ of the way through the doorway and realised it would need to be turned over 180degrees in order to get the legs (all four sets) through the doorway. Out it came again turned over, only to find that still one set of legs were in the wrong place. Ended up having to saw through these – luckily wooden they were. Next over tea we decided to move the existing workbench and put both benches end to end in the workshop along the longest side of the room. We would have had them like this in the first place, had we not found it more practical to have one workbench outside for the long lengths of timber to be worked on, and because of the poor lighting in the workshop - little natural daylight. Inside the benches could be wedged up to the same height to make it easier to router out the 18’ lengths. Putting the benches together meant all the timber lengths had to be moved. The whole workshop ended up being swept out, disturbing some wonderfully large spiders. Ugh. Whilst completing the steps outside – Gary H turned up anticipating his dad, John H,  here. Very quiet. No apologies or comment. Asked him if his ears were burning last night !. Enough said. Gary H measured the mast under the boat – struggling awfully to get around the boat anyway – then took it out and put it in their bottom shed, which had a lean to alongside of it !!. Gary H pottered around quietly in the boat then took off leaving his tape measure behind on the concrete !. What a wasted day for us with regards to our boat. Temperature hit 11degrees today – it is now into spring – hopefully warmer climes to follow.

What a shock to arrive and find another boat squeezed alongside us, behind a ill hung flimsy tarpaulin which was not to last 5 minutes		It was certainly not a boat we would have had given

When we arrived we found the grey steps had been removed completely and the workbench had been stupidly sandwiched between the concrete steps and the brown wooden steps.		We moved the workbench into the workshop, where it could be used, and put back the grey steps. The workbench was not useable in the gap, as seen in the above photo

6/3/94

Mild start to the day. Still unsettled regarding the situation. John H turned up at 11:00am to potter around. We sanded the cockpit side where marks had appeared , and epoxy spots,  then sanded the epoxy residue on the starboard cabin sides ready for epoxying in the lattes. No comment from John H regarding the boat alongside us. We said we could see they had got what they paid for, it was in a poor state with lots of work needed doing to it. So they should know how much we have got on. We happened to comment regarding having seen a lot of similar boats as unfinished projects in gardens and John H remarked "how long would ours take" ?. As we explained the problem presently is the temperature for epoxy, to which John H said "can that not wait until it is more completed". !. Some people can only think of the finished thing – not sticking it together – then he went on to suggest a hairdryer to cure it. All right for a dinghy perhaps !. Also John H mentioned he was nearly there with permission for a caravan club site etc. After John H had gone we measured the lean to on their bottom shed. Gary H’s boat would have gone in there – it is wider, and it would have been more out of the elements. Concentration lost today. Tidied up the workshop further – then hoovered up and tied down the sheets. As luck would have it our workshop key broke. We hung onto the spare key this week. We don't want anyone trapeing into the workshop without our knowledge anyway. If any of our perfectly planed timber gets damaged on the edges it will be ruined – and with no comeback likely. Also our tools and our consumeables we now put into our toolbox and lock it. We just cannot take any chances. Just another year until Summer 1995 is all we need – but it is going to be a battle of wits.

12/3/94

Beautiful start to the day. Sun shining, little wind, and we really felt in business. Then John H turned up to potter around. He did not stop long – left with no word - just a toot on the horn and a wave. We nearly started epoxying as the weather was so pleasant, but upon looking for tools we realised we had left the screwdriver roll at home on the lounge floor. Oh No. After much thought and cups of tea, decided to work on the covering board sections. This is why we needed the bench outside – for light, air and systematic maneuverability, as we had it last year when we started on these pieces. Had to rig up extra lighting in the workshop, which was still not 100% for seeing the scored lines in the timber. There is very little natural daylight gets into the workshop. It took 3 hours and four sweeps over the lengths of timber with the router. ( 3 x 9’ lengths + 1 x 9’ length). As the edge of the ply deck to hull is approx. 35mm at the bow and only 30mm amidships/aft, decided to do a stepped rebate so that most of the length will be touching wood to wood. We will need to run the router down the side on the hull edge, and router out a rebate in the deck ply to cater for the stepped rebate in the covering boards. This done the temperature outside dropping fast, sun has not shone much during the day, wind was getting up and early evening it down poured. As we said our work performance has dropped by a quarter since having to move the workbench.

13/3/94

Workbench inside affects not only the lighting being poor, but also warming of the resin and timber etc. no-where now in the open to do so except on the steps. Doing this day’s write up on Saturday 19^th. Cannot remember what we did.  Weather was cold and overcast. We left about 16:00pm, certainly the deck ply had been doubly routered, along the outer edges. Very pleased with the covering boards so far – need to decide how we are going to do the taper towards the bow.

	Photo of covering board showing the rebate on the underside, and also the rebate on the plywood edge.
Double routered the deck plywood edge so the covering boards will fit snug when epoxied in place

19/3/94

Both almost worn out after having had the House carpets fitted throughout yesterday. The sun, today really boosted our batteries, and of course our fitted carpets at home made us feel so much happier as well. Arrived down at the boat about 11:45am, all dressed and ready for business. Someone had attempted access to the workshop though!. Our boats boards across the platform had been removed aft, and someone been up sneaking a look, or looking for power points, or even the hoover. Got out the epoxy equipment and warmed the resin and hardener in the sun on the steps. Then about 14:00pm set to fixing in place the starboard main cabin side lattes. The process had a few hiccups. The first latte would not go completely into the groove against the adjoining upright latte, quickly took a bit off it with the junior hacksaw. Then there was no acetone rag, neither the hammer to knock in the plugs in, the screws were reject ones, and needed pallet knife for tidying up the upper edge of the last latte fixed in. There are three more lattes to do, once the cabin/companionway  beam is nearer completed. Took about 2 hours to do the lattes and 20 squirts. Good progress made indeed. Just settling for cup of tea and rest and John H turns up pottering around,  then he waved and left. Decided to epoxy in place the next two pieces of deck ply. Easier task this time. 6+7+6+7 squirts of epoxy and approx. 12 scoops of Colloidal Silica glass micro fibre. Been using this non stop now when epoxying. 18:00pm job done. Spirits are heightening now. More a finished surface woodwork is appearing. Tomorrow plan to remove the aft deck pieces of ply – not yet epoxied down. Prepare the surface and see what levelling up needs to be done. Sun going down now and temperature dropping. It has been a beautiful day. Enough to remove the top layer of clothing. Lance had lie down rest, whilst Ruth replenished container of microfibres, and prepared a pile of more tissues, cleaned up all the brushes, pots etc and the brushed the deck down & made cup of tea. It is a nuisance when wearing gloves to epoxy, and then try to pick up a Ύ" screw, to screw in and half a dozen of screws adhere to the glove, even though gloves washed in acetone, then if there are any screws left they are gunged up in epoxy, and need rinsing in acetone. Ideally we need a saucer with exactly the right amount of screws set aside. Same applies to plugs with a few spare, and just drop them into the epoxy pot just enough to wet them. Because of the tight fit – make sure not too much epoxy in the hole. The plug creates air tight area out of which not much epoxy can be squeezed. 40 plugs used this afternoon in the 8’(approx.) lattes starboard. Need to take the epoxy and hardener home this weekend. Thaw them out completely and pour old into the new. Then get a box large enough to keep them in the van for security. 19:00pm now – time for more tea – then into the workshop room for warm around the fire – whilst the bed is made up and hot water bottles filled. Neither of us has put on the radio of late. We have one with us, but with so many distractions etc it has knocked us off course.

20/3/94

9:30am and John H arrived and proceeded to cut the grass right behind the workshop. Nice sunny morning again. Then a white car drove in. John H and this chap got their paperwork out and spent two hours discussing what we presumed were the Caravan Club requirements. We kept quite and a low profile. We made a start removing the aft deck pieces of ply, to assess the epoxy situation. Decided the two ply inserts (one port and one starboard) which on the outer edge, had laid flat , could not be cambered with ease therefore build up with epoxy first etc. Cleaned the area down after brushing it down. By now 12:00 noon. The 'caravan' chap left, no exchange of papers and John H proceeded to cut the lane. About half hour later John H stopped off at the bottom of our steps. He seemed very polite after not really having spoken for some time. Then, suddenly, asked if we had seen the workshop key. We said it had broken and not yet managed to get a replacement. John H's other son had apparently been during the week and could not get in. We asked what he had wanted John H did not reply instantly, then said he did not know, and then making up the excuse of the tools. We explained only the planer and bench saw is Les H’s in the workshop, and the rest of the timber and stuff is ours. John H very tense and wound up in himself by now  , and "actually" John H said, sternly , "I would like to know when you will be leaving ?". We expressed not knowing how he could come straight out with something like that. John H wanted a date from us as Gary H want’s to get his boat into the workshop. John H, himself, suddenly want’s to make some fence panels in the workshop, and everyone else seems to want to get into the workshop for one reason or other. All this and no mention at all of contributions to the electric bill etc. Our concern is for our stuff and the use of Les H’s planer, and saw, by incompetent individuals. "Is there somewhere nearer home you can put the boat?" asked John H. "Surely you want to get it into the water? - it has got a deck now", John  H said. "You have your spot where your boat is" said John H, "and it is a privilege you are using my workshop" he finished. It is his now and he says he has a workbench and a workshop he cannot utilise at present. They all feel they are out in the cold!. He did appreciate though, the low profile we had kept whilst his visitor was here. He has not explained fully yet to him who we are!. We mentioned also to John H that our boat is not ready just yet for lifting because the bulkheads need epoxying in. "Oh how long will that take then ?", said John H. John H reckoned Les H had given us a year, nothing in writing etc but  we corrected him about the gentlemen’s agreement with Les H, of two years initially. Anyway, John H reckoned  he had asked many times before about how long we would be, and he said he never got a proper answer. He had never asked the right question(s) before. John H asked if we could be out by August this year, so we were forced to say make it September time, providing we could be left alone and not disturbed in the mean time. Trouble is not discussing things with us. Things were conspired amongst the family, bottling it up and then when it exploded , it comes out with an arrogant, ignorant attitude. Anyway to conclude, we said we would talk it over with Les H, and it is nice when things are discussed with us in person, and not a case of suddenly moving in boats, and moving our stuff around. We said we are now very depressed, and John H said so am I depressed. John H admitted no hard feelings etc and yes we are decent people, leaving no rubbish. He also admitted fence could be put up to divide us from the caravans etc, but that will not stop children he said. No talk of prevention – especially the condition of the shed and workshop – he sounded more happy if kids do clamber over the boats. There are solutions to such instances. John H had not even realised that we had turned around the top of our steps. Anyway he said he was depressed to, grinned, marched off and sped off in the car, forgetting to shut the gates. Over Sunday lunch the whole family had obviously been talking, and Les H popped up this pm. Nothing came from Les H apart from the first thing he said was "he needed access to the workshop", then changed it to "access to the workshop for his grandchildren".!. We expressed our disapproval over John H’s attitude and regarding Gary H’s boat etc. Les H replied that we had moved the bench and that we now had two benches!. Les H said ( obviously astigated over lunch between them ) "that our Hull is watertight – we had a deck on it and got an engine, we could get it into the water". Exactly word for word from John H and Gary H. Anyway showed Les H the broken key and he has taken it to see if he has got another one, providing we leave the spare one there for whoever wants access to the workshop. Following all this palaver of which peoples attitude and way of going about things was totally uncalled for, we were totally off balance. If you cannot win them – join them – definately not in this case – we are better than them. We had already  removed the after deck pieces of ply and acetoned the area ready for epoxying as I mentioned earlier, but now we were so annoyed with everyone around here, we never managed to do the epoxying. Packed up about 16:00pm secured all tools in the toolbox and wardrobe and had to put the covering board lengths back on the shelf. We had had them between the two vices to try get a curve into them. 

26/3/94

No trouble today at all getting the temperature up to 15degrees. By midday we cracked on with the epoxying the after deck. Awkward area, underneath low ceiling overhead. Started by putting a layer of epoxy, plus fibre ribbing to fair up the stern deck edge. Once done, 13:00pm (about 12+squirts) , and whilst it was still moist, set to epoxying in place the two after most pieces of deck ply. Quite a job considering only room for one of us on deck. One of us had to stand on tressles alongside. 12 + 12, then 10 + 10 squirts for the two pieces of aft ply, then 6 + 6 for both of the last two side deck pieces of ply. Problem came when trying to stand on top of the pieces of ply, to squeeze the epoxy into all joints. Who needs yoga – just spend some time with us. Cleaning up is just as important as doing the job. Cleaning up surplus epoxy, then wiping surfaces with acetone. Helps seal the deck ply anyway wiping down with acetone in which the brushes have had the final clean. It works well now having a barrel of old acetone – the epoxy sinks and hardens and although not clear the acetone is reusable for initial washing of brushes. Less is wasted. No-one here at all today. Boy did we have a job opening the door last night. Nearly broke this spare key. Not having been used for years had to be careful with it. Tea time 16:00pm and a good job done. Only deck ply left to do is the cockpit itself. Last night clamped the covering boards back into the vices. Seemed like no-one had been up this week at all !. Only cowards instigate unjustifiably , then run a mile. The cockpit area and after locker were then hoovered out. Temperature dropping rapid tonight.

Coating the after deck with Epoxy		Epoxied into place the after deck 2nd layer plywood

27/3/94

Bitter cold today – overcast. Clocks went forward last night, and it near gave us a heart attack when Les H arrived, at what is now 10:15am. He had popped up having got a key made up, and then left us with two files of his, as he had to dash off. See if we could do something with this key to make it fit/work. Windy as well today – the sheet on this other boat almost torn to shreds now. Not a lot we could do with it – it was ill fitted anyway. One of our eyelets came off so, we rehooked it and bent the nail further up. Today was to be a thinking day. Assess bending of the Covering boards. Will need to steam them. Discussed various ideas of making a steaming box. The covering boards themselves will need a 45degree angle cutting on the ends and ideally a dovetail cut so both joints meet securely. Worked out about 7 teak lattes of 45mm = 315mm could be fitted down side deck at narrowest point – leaving about 20mm for mahogany cabin side edging (14’ of it) at forward, and 90mm for edging against the cockpit sides frontage area. King plank to be approx. 100mm x 9’. We did notice though – someone could have been down this week – as this other boat was being taken apart slowly to reveal the real picture. The bunks now out and more boards out alongside. We were sure it was Gary H who passed the bottom of the lane slowly in the car, but did come up.

31/3/94

Undecided whether to go to Bristol to seek out some boatyards or continue with steaming box. Decided to visit a pipe place in Bristol for some steaming pipe whilst on our rounds. We need to satisfy our curiosity re Bristol and seek further the boatyards etc. Found a Rubber stockists, but left having discovered a 1m length would be £39 + vat. !!. Think again. Next parked up to seek out a Mast Place, in Bristol. We were shown around the workshop. They can accommodate up to 50m masts on the bench. They make them of Douglas Fir lengths. Sitka Spruce too although difficult to get, especially in lengths. Need to get our details sent in for a quote. Up to now not impressed with Bristol at all. Could find no marinas proper in the yellow pages. Found a Chandlers/Boat Yard on the opposite side of the river. Very basic – not even a map of marina’s and facilities available on the River. Got the price list for hard standing – for which there were many projects underway. Seems like £1000 per year here. Expensive. The marina we visit on Saturday evenings for a drink,  was better for the price. Lady in the Chandlery did give us a Waterways leaflet which detailed services along the canal. Searched out a Boat Builder on the canal side. Out of the way but only 35p a foot dry storage, plenty of space !. Crane available at £2 per foot. They are starting up a chandlery as well. It looks very promising, and so far would be our choice, indeed in an emergency. Arrived back home 20:00pm after 8 hours, just managed to devour a chinese before falling asleep – worn out. Not to mention it was pouring down with rain for most of the time. Our opinion of Bristol from today is rat race, traffic jams, expensive parking and not much for yachties at all.

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