Monday we sent a message asking when it might be possible to start moving things back on board, would this be the week it would happen?
Don’t be daft!!!
Anti-slipped
The roof was anti slipped, all the mushroom vents masked off, edges taped and the gritty paint applied.
Tom wasn’t 100% happy with how the blue on the bow and stern bulkheads had dried, the hot weather having speeded up the drying process, so it had gone a touch matt. When we were there a little while ago, I’d mentioned that the blue on the bow bulkhead didn’t look as shiny as that on the bow, at least Tom agreed. There was a choice between cut and polishing the blue, or give it a sand back and respray. The latter was chosen for a better use of time and to stop the top coats becoming thin.
Tuesday the masking on the roof had been removed and Matt the solar chap must have visited as on Wednesday morning we were sent photos of the solar panels installed on the roof. Cables held down by magnets.
The boat was then masked off again to respray the bulkheads and by 5:30pm we had photos through from Tom showing how much shinier they were.
Thursday morning all the masking was removed, including the brown paper that has been keeping the blacking black. The first sight of Oleanna in her new livery. Very nice. The tiller was also painted in the three colours.
Zooming in on the photos I could see that the cratch board is still to be sanded and varnished and there was no sign of any anti slip on the gunnels yet.
We sent a message asking if there was a plan for the remaining jobs including a time scale for which they’d be happening. Would we be able to move things back on board, stay over and be there for her to go back in the water?
Friday came and we nudged Tom for an answer. It was his son’s birthday, so he’d rightly been busy with celebrations. There was a list of some of the remaining jobs, we checked he’d got repainting the lockers on his list. He could see us climbing back on board mid to late next week with Oleanna being launched after the bank holiday weekend. He’d give us a call tomorrow as he’d be down at the paint shed.
Rain, we’ve had rain!
An invoice arrived from Matt for the solar. Of course we can’t check if it works until we’re out in daylight! The fuse for the panels has been added on the roof as there is no space for it in the electrics cupboard.
So we started to make plans around next week, adding in a trip to the south, which had been another destination we’d aimed to go to by boat. Canal time eh! I went for a walk to think about the logistics of hiring a car/van, when should we get it from and for how long? We’d need it before the weekend and after, but not during. The hire car we’d arranged from East Midlands Airport would now need cancelling, or should we keep it as it could be returned on Saturday afternoon? This would not be possible if we hired anything from Scarborough.
Half price steak!
We had several possible plans, but would need confirmation from Tom before we went ahead and booked anything.
Saturday morning we decided which plan we preferred and relayed it to Tom. This would involve us moving things onto the boat one day, staying overnight and then heading south from Redhill, returning the following week for the launch with more of our possessions, then a third trip to return our second mate back to her floating home.
Second Mate and Design Assistant Tilly
Unfortunately, the day we’d planned is also a day when the base plate is likely to be sprayed. So the paint will be gassing overnight, so it wouldn’t be possible for us to stay overnight. However, we could drop things off at the boat that day. We’ll book ourselves a Travelodge somewhere nearby, which will be cheaper than the fuel to return to Scarborough only to drive southwards again the following day.
Pete the joiner has done the locker lids and the inspection hatch, although we’ve not had photos, but they are more jobs off the list.
A new painting started
So we gradually inch closer. We’d rather it was quicker, and we’d rather know which day Oleanna will go back in the water as there are hire cars and Tilly to think about. The only fortunate thing about not going back in the water until after the Bank Holiday is that our new licence will start close to the start of a month rather than having to pay for the full month of August and only achieving a few days afloat.
Anyone got an old hook up I could have please?
In panto news, new prices have come in for the printing of cloths, 2/3rds the previous quote. A new version of part of the set will come in cheaper. We’ve given the go ahead to Jamie to build the show before he got offered another job.
Zooming away the day!
I’ve had a full day of props meetings with Helen who is the main props person this year and then Min who has lots of things to make at home for one very busy scene. Hopefully soon I will know if we’re on budget. Late on Friday, draft four of the script arrived, just as I thought I was ticking off the last few jobs I needed to do. Well at least I’ll be able to find the time to read it now.
There has been more walking and catching up with friends. Mick planned to visit Headingley on Saturday for the fourth day of the test match with Pakistan. Unfortunately play ended on Friday, fortunately England won and Mick will get a refund on his ticket.
Is chilled medication going out of fashion?!
So we continue to wait. The boxes I’d packed a month ago, have now been raided and will need repacking. At least we’ll be here to reset one side of the house after Alex leaves.
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 more friends seen, 1 more supporter sorted, 1 hire car cancelled, 1 hire car booked, 2 hotels booked, 3rd destination not reached by boat, 1 HMRC webinar, 1st decent rain in ages, 1 waterproof at the house, 1 waterproof in Redhill, 1 painting started, 4th draft, 6 hours props meetings, 1 list of jobs, £139 saved, 7 years old, 1 bank holiday, I remember when things were going to start happening after Easter!
Monday morning a message was sent to Tom to see if we could pay a visit this week. Wednesday was to be a spraying day, so not a good day to visit, but Tuesday was looking good. As both of us wanted to visit Mick tried to hire a car or van for the day, but all hire companies in Scarborough were fully booked. Not one vehicle to be had in town. So he then spent a while susing out trains. With some flexibility built into our tickets we were booked on an early train via Hull, hopefully we’d manage a quick change at Sheffield.
Tuesday morning and we were the first up in the house. A cuppa each was consumed whilst packing a bag for the day with a sandwich breakfast, knitting and plenty of water. Our journey through the Yorkshire Wolds was a very golden one, all the fields now harvested. A few also very black following field fires last week. In Sheffield our next train sat on the next platform waiting for us and there was just enough time to buy a decaff tea, Mick says I jumped in front of a couple, but they were dillydallying too much and my need for tea was obviously far greater than theirs!
Was Good Cop / Bad Cop needed?
We arrived at East Midlands Parkway just before 11am, I’d finished a sock and cast on the toe of the next one. It was a pretty warm walk down to the marina.
So what had changed since the last photos we’d received? Oleanna’s gunnels were now matt black. The paint applied with a roller, so when it comes to touch-up time, the touch-ups will match and not be so obvious. The matt paint dries really quite quickly. Oleanna’s neighbour had also come on, more or less in the same state as Oleanna. Sign written and masked out for the final colour on the coach lines.
New dowels cover the screw heads
Windows were in. Paul and Spec, the joiners had been busy redrilling the holes on the window frames and then filling them with oak dowels to hide the screw holes. One job we’d omitted to think about has been to have the frames sanded back and revarnished. Sadly the water stains from condensation and rain are there, now with the windows in the way! Oh well, we’ll see what happens this winter before I consider doing something about the stains.
Different frosting on the bathroom windows
The new windows are double glazed and have a thermal break. We also opted for the stays or rests to have two positions to them. This will mean we can have the windows just cracked open as well as the usual opening. The frames sit into the boat more than the single glazed ones did, but that’s due to the frames being thicker to accommodate the two layers of glass.
Wider frames and black gunnels
The galley windows are still only single glazed as they are sliding windows which are not available in double glazing, The frames of our new windows are that little bit wider than the old frames, at least both sides of the boat look the same and I suspect not many people would notice at first glance.
Tape to protect the new paintwork as we talked lids
Inside Paul and Spec were starting to be briefed by Tom regarding the stern locker lids. I decided that I should go and check what was being discussed. The idea was to trim around an inch and a half off around the two sides and the back edge of the wooden locker lids. The trimmed off border would then be fixed to the steelwork and we’d be left with a lift out lid that still sits on the steelwork but is far FAR less likely to bump and scrape the fresh paintwork, as it did with the original lids.
Smile still sat inside. Hope my paintwork from last year matches
Paul was concerned that trimming the ends of the lids would mean that the wood for the border would be made up of end grain, so liable to split. He then suggested making the opening smaller, therefore keeping a larger surround which would be more stable. This however would make the opening of the locker a really small size and actually make using the lockers almost impossible. We stow buckets, ropes mooring items and all sorts in there, the lockers are used daily. Placing the locker lids on the lockers helped, suggesting that the border was not made from the offcuts, but new timber with the grain running the length of each side would be better. Soon I believed we’d be getting what we wanted.
A straight transition between black and blue, it used to be curved
The other job we wanted them to do was to cut an inspection hatch at the stern under the treads. When Oleanna was being built Finesse were really reluctant to do this for some reason. We’d however like to be able to check the bilges every now and again without taking the fridge out! So hopefully this will also get done. The chaps then moved on to work on our neighbouring boat, putting the windows back together there. A full day for the joiners working on two boats makes more sense than just turning up to work on one, but I suspect that has added to the length of time Oleanna has been in the shed.
The lower tunnel band was ready for the last colour to be sprayed, the red. The roof was having the mushroom vents fitted back on by Bertie. Items had arrived for the solar installation however, the panels were still in transit.
Seyella moored up under trees on the other bank
We headed down to the cafe for lunch. Which blogging boater might we have chance to have missed today. Well across the way was what looked like a familiar boat, however with new owners. NB Seyella was moored under a few trees, looking in good order from a distance, Geoff and Mags now living on a Dutch barge further up the River Soar.
After jacket potatoes, yes it was hot, but we’d already had smoked salmon sandwiches for breakfast, we returned to the paint shed. Here we mentioned the lock we’ve bought for the diesel tank which we’ve so far forgotten to bring down.
Then we talked about the time scale to completion. We don’t want to be in a situation of not being able to hire a van in Scarborough to move everything else back to the boat. Tom said once certain jobs were done he’d be able to give us a better idea. Then if we wanted to move things back on in the paint shed as they finished things off outside, we’d be able to stay overnight and then be there for Oleanna going back in the water. There was a subtle caveat that it would be dependent on how hot the next two days were and what they managed to get done. Really high temperatures would mean any paint would turn matt.
So hopefully next week sometime! Our return journey on the train proved that a single carriage can be both a sauna and a freezer within 2 meters, we chose the cool section and just managed to catch the connecting train in Sheffield back to Scarborough.
Wednesday. Would the red be finally sprayed? We waited for news.
At around 5pm, photos started to come in. The red had been sprayed, a good deep bright red. Tom signed off for the day with the comment ‘Lets see what tomorrow brings’.
Ooooo!
Thursday at just gone 8:30 the first photo came through. The gas locker lid, masking removed and the hinges red on the blue.
Just a taster photo for now
Then views of the cabin sides, plastic still over the roof, the tunnel band now red and the dollies and bottom of the tiller.
Is Oleanna as Bold as this lady?
By 11:15 we got to see her without any masking, her cream roof and grabrail red. ‘Looking really boaty now’. She certainly is. But you’ll have to wait a while longer before I show you, she needs to be out in daylight
Time ticks along in Scarborough
Next will be anti-slip, dry enough for Matt to fit the solar panels next week. The tiller needs finishing, doors fitting, hatch doors fitting and marking up to match the stripes on the cabin sides, woodwork sanding back and varnishing. The base plate finished blacking. There’s also the two new T studs to be fitted. Then all the fixtures and fittings back on, including for the cratch and pram covers, sadly these will for the time being be the old ones rather than new. We’ll have to be careful when we drop the pram cover to make sure it doesn’t harm the paintwork, as one of the connectors tends to slip out.
No news of Friday sadly. So we’ll be getting in touch on Monday to see if Tom now has a plan of which day we can start to move back onboard. We know we’ll have a lot of cleaning to do in cupboards, so it will be a long day for us.
During the week I’ve had a couple of panto meetings and chats, been tidying up some of the print images. We also ticked off a meal out with Mark at the Taj, meaning we missed watching the eclipse. I’ve also caught up with my girl friends here in Scarborough over lots of nibbles and conversation. Thank you Duncan for being a good doorman.
Sitting on the external catwalk
0 locks, 0 miles, 6 return tickets each, 24 tickets in all, 1 boat edging her way to being finished, 1 packet sad gits smoked salmon, 1 sad gits crispy aromatic duck, 1 £3 duck now in the freezer, 60 brisk minute walks minimum each day, 1 cat now getting used to being in the house, 1 woofer visitor returned, 2 boaters having unpacked a bit about to have to repack, we HOPE!
After Tom’s plan last week, we’ve heard very little this week, infact nothing. School holidays now delay progress on Oleanna’s repaint.
A new feline landing net
We plan on making a visit early next week, so we can see if things are where they should be and get a more accurate estimate of Oleanna going back in the water.
In other news, we’ve managed to finally watch all episodes of the latest series of Narrow Escapes. We quite enjoyed the first series, plodded on with the second and the third, well … As we suspected, about this time last year, we managed to get in shot! The sections with Kate who makes fused glass sculptures and windows, whilst they are on their home mooring there is Oleanna in the background, waiting for our assisted passage through some locks on the Chesterfield Canal. Have to say theglass for me was the most interesting part of the latest series.
Practicing for her return to cat walking on the gunnels
We watch the numerous daily notices appearing in our inbox from CRT. Mostly stoppages due to low water, a few trees down, lock restrictions and sadly a failed culvert at Swanley on the Llangollen Canal which will take some fixing, thankfully it’s not as big as the Whitchurch breach.
Party in our local park with jousting, snakes and karate!
When we are back onboard, where should we go? Or try to go? We know where we wanted to head, plus where we’d like to be for panto, but will we be able to get there?! If we continue to have hot dry summers, will the boating calendar switch? Winter moorings become summer moorings, winter stoppages for maintenance become jobs to be organised for the summer months before water levels make things tricksy. Spring and Autumn cruising chosen over the summer months.
Trying to keep Tilly’s mind off our latest house guest
Do we abandon plans to head south? Loiter with intent to head south? Do more maintenance jobs onboard, move Oleanna closer to Scarborough? All things we need to think about. On a boat you can never have a definite plan, having some alternatives up your sleeve has been a good plan in the past, now even more so.
Woofer possessions!
So life goes on in Scarborough. I go for walks watching the huge holes being dug on the beach, the donkey rides, the tides come and go along with the tourists. Mick attended the 50 over cricket match this week at North Marine Road when Yorkshire won. Rehearsals have started for the next new Alan Ayckbourn play and Handbagged continues it’s run at the theatre.
Evolution of part of panto
This week Tilly and Polly have both coped incredibly well sharing the house. Polly is a woofer belonging to Alex who is staying with us (playing the older Margaret Thatcher in Handbagged). A barrier on the first floor landing along with keeping the kitchen doors closed has kept noses from being out of joint or twitching too much. Polly will return for a few days next week, here’s hoping that goes just as well, that’s if we’re still here.
We will be.
Alterations for panto have continued and one day this last week myself and Gemma the Production Manager managed to get us closer to the budget. One set piece has now had a new model made for it and next week I’ll rescan the technical drawings. If anyone knows of a life size, narrow Santa Sledge or a cement mixer going cheap please let me know.
Today Mick and I have enjoyed being able to go to the Filey Food Festival for the first time. It is held four times a year and has a LOT of food stalls, sadly only one I can definitely eat from. Today lunch was a samosa and sausage roll for Mick, a gf sausage roll followed by a vanilla slice for me, The slice wasn’t quite as good as a glutenous one, but a nice reminder of one of my favourite things. We also came away with four cheeses, these will have to be rationed and two very large onion bhajis which smell amazing.
Hopefully there will be more to update on next week. Fingers, toes and paws crossed.
Us enjoying the festival
0 locks, 0 miles, 0 photos of Oleanna, 4th carousel design, 3ft not 4ft a hard concept, £4k less, 1 feline 1 canine living in harmonyish, 1 more veg box, 1 replacement landing net, 1 food festival, 2 chilled medications, 1 cobble landing full of memories.
Patience is a virtue, it’s also getting VERY boring now!
Taking the weight off whilst the IT department sort out a problem
Last Sunday we waved goodbye to the Calendar Girls who have been staying with us. Almost as soon as Fenella had pulled away in a car Mick and I got busy moving ourselves from my workroom and The Shed into the back bedroom. This is now my third bedroom in three weeks and Mick’s forth! I had to promise Tilly that this was the last time we’d be moving the inside until we moved back to the inside where the outside moves. We were now left with one lodger, Alex who had headed home for the weekend.
Monday the cleaners arrived to give one side of the house a spruce up. No news or photos from Redhill.
Camenbert and smoked salmon quiche to help use up pastry
Tuesday, a message was sent to Tom to see how things were going. A while ago he’d said he was aiming to be finished this week, we’d taken that to mean the end of the week at the earliest. I’d done a tot up of the jobs still to be done and reckoned it would actually end up being next week.
A message came through from Tom. Next job would be to prepare the grabrail for the red, he’d realised the black he’d been sent was actually gloss and we’d asked for matt, so he was waiting for that to be delivered. The joiner was going to get back to him on timings for his jobs, he’d be in touch later with a better idea. Definitely not this week then.
Mick, some lady and Paul
The day, however, improved with a visitor all the way from Bristol bearing boaty bootie! Paul Balmer from Waterway Routes had decided to have a day out to deliver various boaty items he no longer needs as he has sold his boat NB Waterways Routes sometime ago now. (Note: he has only sold his boat not the Waterway Routes maps business.) Last weeks blog post had landed at just the right time as Paul had spare blue ropes which needed a new home. So early in the morning he’d packed up a bag and set forth to venture northwards. We popped down to the station to meet his train, decanted his boaters bootie into a couple of bags and then walked down to the Cats Pyjamas, we’ve never been to this cafe before, but it is close to southbay so at least Paul would get to see the sea before he headed back southwards.
After inspection by Tilly, the boat hook was put to use to fish things out of the high cupboard in the kitchen. Sadly the custard container was empty.
Thank you very much Paul for the goodies
A very nice hour and a half was spent hearing about his recent trip on the Mon and Brec, us filling him in on the boat repaint and general boaty conversation, all accompanied by butties and cuppas. Then it was time to wave goodbye again, hopefully our paths will cross should we be able to cruise anywhere as he and Christine are itching to help work locks. They may be able to help Mick should we manage to get south for me to go to Panto.
Abandond buckets and spades
Wednesday. A catch up message from Tom. Tomorrow they’d be fitting the windows and then putting black on the gunwales. Other bits would go back on Oleanna, but the red wouldn’t happen until next week.
School holidays will now add to delays, there’s a family festival to attend next week so only a few things will get done on Oleanna. So he’s now looking at the week after for completion. Another disappointing day really. We checked to see how the solar was going, Matt is going away for two weeks from next week. The roof gland had been fitted, where the panels are going marked out and the panels are in transit. Patience!
First thermal break window frame going in
Thursday we got a photo of one of the new windows having gone in, our picture window in the bedroom. The brown paper having been removed from that section. They apparently were going in well. The frames inside will require some joinery. They should slot in around the frames, but then will need wooden plugs putting in over their screws.
Moody skies over Scarbados
Friday, the plan was for Oleanna’s doors to go back on today along with mushroom vents. However, Whatsap was quite quiet.
In the evening we headed to the SJT to watch Handbagged, a political satire which imagines what happened behind the Palace doors when Margaret Thatcher and the Queen met for their weekly meetings over eleven years. Alex our current lodger is playing the older Margaret Thatcher in the play. We’ve been hearing how things have been progressing during the production week and tonight was the first preview. We enjoyed the show, it’s amusing, very different from Calendar Girls and needs a few more shows to bed itself in, but as I say it was the first preview.
Saturday, we decided to unpack some clothes, it’s fine living out of bags for a couple of weeks, but not really for a month. We’ve welcomed in another lodger, Anna who is an Assistant Stage Manager for the new Ayckbourn which starts rehearsals on Monday.
We’ve installed a makeshift barrier on the landing where the two houses connect. This is because next week we will have two visitors, Angie and Polly, Polly is a woofer! So we’re giving Tilly some time to acclimatise, or do calculations to be able to climb it! We’re hoping the off cut of kitchen worktop is not scalable!
Happy Yorkshire Day!
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 date moved again, 2 boaters moving around the house again, 2 lodgers out, 1 new one in, 1 feline/canine barrier built, 1 long distance visitor, 4 x 9m ropes, 1 escape ladder, 1 extendable boat hook, 1 pair pond gloves, 1 set of windows installed, 2 solar panels on their way, but not fitted, 1 family festival, 2 weeks holiday, 1 veg box, 1 GF focaccia, 2 Maggies, 2 Liz’s, 8 diddy quiches, 1 CD to pick up, £? is it Duncan?
Living on land now involves creaky staircases, encouraging Tilly to sleep in a different room, making a list of things that need to be done before leaving Scarborough, starting to tick them off, unpacking boxes to find that thing or bag of sugar you didn’t think you’d need again until returned to the boat. It’s fine, but I’m glad we’re not having to do it for too long though. This weekend we may well have eight people in the house as one company of actors perform their last shows in Scarborough and have family to stay, good job we’ve got four toilets!
Anyhow, Monday morning we hired a van again, cheaper than a car for the day, sadly they didn’t give us a car, but the van did have aircon, so that was a bonus. Should we take a load of things down to the boat? We decided not to. When we do get to move back on board, I suspect even though the boat will have been cleaned through (we hope) there will be places that didn’t get done. All the cupboards that have crockery in will need a clean and tidy etc. Anything that we take down to the boat and put in the stores will need to be onboard before Oleanna goes in the water, so we’ve already got more than enough to move around as we get ourselves sorted. When we do move the next load can stay in the van until we’re ready for it.
Choo Choo
At the paint shed our neighbouring boat had been prepped, blacked, and had it’s high build coats sprayed, the yellow layer quite obvious but nowhere near as yellow as Nb Lillyanne was. Also sat out the front of the workshop were four little engines for a fairground ride. They also had a coat of yellow highbuild waiting to be sanded back.
After spotting things other than Oleanna, our attention was grabbed by her bow flash.
Bow
Now here I now have a dilemma. Do I reveal Oleannas finished bits as they happen, or give you ambiguous photos for a while to then do a big reveal when she’s out of the paintshed? Hmm, not sure. Maybe we’ll stay ambiguous for a while!
Well her bow flash is wonderful, a lovely Mackintosh inspired nod to Oleanna’s previous livery. Claire has done a lovely job. The red sings on the dark blue, we’re very happy.
The sign writing at the stern is lovely, but at the moment under the lights in the shed and no natural daylight hitting her cabin side it looks a touch dark, but this may also be just the way colours sit against each other.
Have to say we’d hoped to see another colour sprayed, but other than the bow she looked pretty much as when Mick had been down last week. I’m aware of drying/curing times of paint and I suspect they also had to fit in with times Claire could work, plus having another boat to work on whilst the paint goes off on Oleanna.
Lots of colours of tape
Tom was busy marking out the long coachlines along the cabin side. Purple, blue and yellow tape were being applied in straight lines. When a cabin side isn’t actually just straight, it curves and kicks up at the rear, you can’t just do a few measurements and join the dots. Sometimes things need adjusting to look right.
Brown paper being added to protect the cream
Did we want the shadow to cut off at an angle, as it should or be square as it had been on her original paint job? We’re all for improvements so chose an angled shadow which would match the sign writing. As the day went on more lines of tape were added for both the blue and red lines on the cabin sides. Then once everything was in place a layer of brown paper was added over the sides to protect it from over spray.
Doors, hatches, and locker lids ready to be painted
Normally when spraying the main cabin colour, Tom would work his way round the sides of the boat and roof. Then have a little break as the paint goes off before following round with a second coat on all sides. However, the high temperatures on the day he was spraying the cream meant that by the time he’d worked his way round both cabin sides back to where he’d started, it was ready for it’s second coat, no time to spray the roof as any overspray would be noticable. So it had been left for another time. By the end of the day the roof was being sanded back ready for the top coats.
Lunchtime view
Lunch at the cafe, a cheese and salad cob and a tuna mayo sandwich with a cuppa each, sat watching the occasional boat on the River Soar. Maybe today was the day NB Bonjour would pass the marina? Maybe they’d already passed this morning? Another near miss with a blogging boat.
New bow and stern protection
We loitered, trying to stay out of the sunshine, waiting to meet with Matt regarding our new solar panels. Our new bow and stern fenders had arrived, now our thoughts turned to new ropes. Oleanna has so far had two sets, we soon replaced the original thin weedy lines she came with, 16mm much better for my reduced grip bought from Tradline in Braunston. These showed their age a bit quicker than we’d expected and we replaced them 2 years later, also with ropes from Tradline. With a new paint job we’d like her to look smart and her current lines are now in need of replacement, not bad after about 7 years. Not being near a chandlery means we may have to purchase without being able to feel them. A choice, should we go for multifilament or polyester? A look back on the blog to see what we’d had previously, this only gave me the lengths not the type of rope. I think our current one’s float.
CRT number with the logo from when she was launched
Matt arrived and chat started about the size of solar panels for Oleanna. We’d originally wanted to up how much solar we can get, but panels need to fit on the roof between mushroom vents. The location of the old ones would be best then we’d not need to either rewire the boat or have numerous wires across the roof. Two manufacturers were looked at, one panel a touch tight, the other would only give us a bit more power. Matt would be in touch tomorrow with a quote. Time is now pressing as he and his colleague go on holiday soon for two weeks, we’d like them fitted before then, plus Tom needs the panels so he knows where to anti-slip the roof, avoiding where the panels will be stuck.
Tuesday. Matt got in touch. The panels we’d opted for were out of stock, but he’d found some others, 290 watts each, which would give us a bit more power and would fit the original spaces. A quote was sent through, we checked it over and approved it. Hopefully now the panels will arrive this week so as not to hold anything up.
Later in the afternoon photos came through from Tom. The roof had been sprayed plus the doors that are going cream along with all the mushroom vents. The mushrooms were originally chrome, in the hope that they’d stay shiny and not require polishing. However within a few months they started to tarnish and we could never get them to be shiny, so just gave up. Hopefully now being painted they will stay looking good far far longer. This now leaves red and blue to be done, followed by the gunnels going matt black, anti-slip, and the base plate getting sprayed, which apparently is the last thing to happen almost as she is wheeled out of the paint shed. However there is now a day to wait before they can cover up the roof with paper to protect it from over spray.
Mushroom coloured mushrooms
Wednesday. An expensive day! Claire sent through photos and an invoice for her work. This was soon followed by Tom asking for his next payment. He also sent ideas for the T studs for the bow. Two options which were okay, but Mick found one that would have a similar feel to the T studs already on Oleanna. The new ones however are stainless steel, so no painting required and will bolt on to the top of the gunnel, meaning should they ever need to be removed it would be an easier job. I doubt we’d ever remove them as they will be useful for river locks and give us an extra option when mooring at oddly spaced rings.
By the end of the day Oleanna was just about ready for the red to go on and money had been moved across from accounts leaving our pockets emptier than they were at the start of the day.
Thursday. Tom seemed to have changed his mind as to which colour should follow. Photos started to come through mid-morning. The mushroom vents were now very much mushroom coloured and waiting to go back on the roof. Then in the afternoon photos of all the doors and hatches came through all shiny and blue. Maybe Tom changed his mind about the red as things like the gas locker lid hinges and dollies will be going red and it’s far easier to spray a big area and then mask out the for the finer details.
In Pantoland I had a go at scanning the cloths. Laptops have changed since I got good results last year and my old laptop has been defaulted. The scans weren’t going quite as large as I need and try as I did, I really couldn’t remember how I’d persuaded the scanner to go large last year. Of course the IT department was busy sitting around in Derby Hospital at the time so he has no recollection as to what I did either! Work in progress. I turned my attention to some visuals for a props maker instead.
Design Assistant Tilly hard at work
Conversations have turned to our cruising plans. Firstly will we be able to go anywhere due to low water levels, CRT are filling up our inbox with lock flight restrictions. Should we move Oleanna back northwards where levels may be better? Or should we carry on with our hoped for destination and a canal we’ve not visited for quite some time?
We have two routes southwards we can choose from, both had restrictions imposed on them last summer. Both would give us somewhere an hours bus ride from Chippy for panto. Stoppage lists were studied, there’s still a few weeks before these are confirmed so they could still change. We also have to take into consideration whether Mick should be single handing this winter or not, this could well steer our cruising plans.
Friday morning, more photos from Tom. Lots more blue had been sprayed, the bow and stern and the cabin coach lines. Next will come the red. We wait for the next photos to arrive, nothing had arrived by the end of the day, so that is likely to happen on Monday now as the blue needs a day to go off before it can be masked out.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 van hired, 1 bow looking stunning, 2 panels on order, 9 doors and hatches, 4 choochoos, 3 coloured masking, 150 ft brown paper, 1 imp, 8 mushroom mushrooms, 1 visit to Sir and Lady A, 1 solicitor, 2 Eat Me burgers, 7 scans not big enough, 2 alternative plans, 1 Blackbird back to the nest? 1 assistant working hard, only 2 more shows of Calendar Girls, 2 boaters now at least 9 weeks behind the original plan for this year.
We’d been in touch with Tom last week hoping that we’d be able to take a load of things down to the boat, a hire van was booked and first thing Monday morning Mick headed off on a bus to pick up a hire van. We then spent an hour loading it with definite boaty items that had been sat in the boat cupboard or on our dining room floor awaiting their return.
Finishing things off
Unfortunately I had a panto deadline looming so needed to spend the day taking photos of my model box, checking over drawings and making a list of paints I’ll be needing in a few months time. Mick headed off on his own hoping to arrive before Claire the sign writer had finished for the day. His journey down wasn’t too bad and he arrived around lunchtime. Claire was busy giving Oleanna her name back.
Claire busy giving Oleanna her name back
Photos came through from Mick whilst I worked away back in Scarborough. Oleanna’s newly painted cream cabin sides had been marked up with tape where her lines and shadows will be, Tom will mask these out and spray them another day. But their positioning was important to get her name in the right place. My emailed instructions to Claire had requested the shadow on the letters to be towards the stern of Oleanna on both sides. Usually the shadow on lettering is either to the left or the right and is a constant side no matter which side of the boat you are on. However, because I’m me, I want the shadows to be constant as if the sun was in front of Oleanna. When originally sign written nobody had passed this information on to Andy Russell who ended up wiping off the paint thankfully before it had dried. Mick checked and the shadows were in the right place today.
Tom was found elsewhere working on hatch doors. These are taken off the boat and popped in a different room for spraying. Colours were checked for the rear sliding hatch. On my original model this had been red, but it had ended up being painted blue in Sheffield. Today the decision was should it be red, blue or cream? Red would only fade in time. Cream would be boring, so back to blue it would go. Only downside is that it will get hot in the sun.
A top shelf was cleared in the paint shed stores so that our possessions could be unloaded. Mick had taken some dust sheets to lay over them as even in a separate room from the paint shed they may well get dusty. By the end of the day Tom sent a photo of everything covered up, all our bedding ready to go back on board. Mick was back in Scarborough at a reasonable time. Our first load of possessions now back close to the boat, but most importantly, not in the house!
Scarborough Station
Tuesday was a very early start. Mick gave me a lift to catch the 5:44 train to York, model box and technical drawings packed away in my blue Ikea bag. I had time to scour the shelves of Sainsburys at York Station for things I could eat for breakfast/lunch. Some fruit, a nut bar and a quinoa salad.
Next train was direct to Banbury, I was so very glad I had a seat booked all the way, close to the luggage rack and didn’t have to stand like SO many others did. A lift from Helen who worked on props last year over to Chippy where I set up the model, requested a cuppa and was ready for our meeting at 11:30.
Chippy Theatre and Holly Hocks
Helen (Props), Paul (Technician), John (Artistic Director), Caroline (Director) and Gemma (Production Manager were all in attendance. On Monday Gemma and I had met with Jamie the set builder and talked through the builds, we already knew the design was over budget. The build cost came in from Jamie, we’d need to prune some items and simplify others to get the price down. I never like doing this without the Director present as they may have different ideas as to what is really important, especially when a new section of script hadn’t come my way yet.
A good meeting, a few items cut, some discussed to be simpler and thankfully Caroline had the same opinion as me on other cuts that shouldn’t happen. Stocks of paint were checked. Props and staffing were chatted about, quite a full on few hours.
The theatre was full of small people doing a dress rehearsal for an end of term show. Astronauts, pumpkins, superheros and slices of cake amongst others were rounded up through the narrow corridors of backstage, if you wanted to reach front of house it was far Far simpler to walk around the outside of the building.
The River Ouse
A lift back to the station where thankfully I had another reserved seat all the way to York, avoiding having to stand most of the way as so many others had to! Three quarters of an hour wait in York meant I could walk to Scarborough Bridge to count the number of boats on the River Ouse moored at Museum Gardens. The Minster was busy donging, celebrating it being Tuesday, the sixth since Mick and I became Civil Partners. Back to Scarborough for a well earned glass of wine before bed.
Early Wednesday morning we listened to two pixies delivering camp beds to our front door. The rest of the day was spent packing more of our possessions away in the house. The boat cupboard that had almost been emptied on Monday, now became groaningly full. Tilly got totally confused as wardrobes were emptied, spices and herbs packed into boxes, everything rationalised, our existence in the house moved into the room we call the Shed and the boat cupboard. Thursday followed with a visit from our cleaners who made our bedroom look very inviting for our next lodger, Tilly inspected everything before extra covers were added to protect the freshly made bed. Mick and I would now be sleeping in the Shed and my work room. Tilly persevered sitting on our bed overnight, not quite able to relax as for her our move back to Oleanna was imminent, to us it’s still at least a couple of weeks away.
I spent time working on alternative versions for one scene of panto, drawing them up and sending them on to Jamie to price up. A visit to Oleanna was hoped for, but during Friday they would be spraying paint, so it wouldn’t be a good day to visit. Instead we arranged to go down next Monday, hoping we’d be able to catch Claire finishing off the bow. No photos came through from Tom, maybe not much had changed, maybe they were masking things off.
On Saturday and Sunday Scarborough was celebrating Seafest and 400 years of being the first seaside resort. Seafest (an annual event) is normally held on one of the piers, but major works are happening there this year, so celebrations were held at The Spa instead. The community stage was in the Suncourt and the main acts/bands were inside in the Grand Hall. The Ocean Room was taken over with stalls from historical groups and Animated Objects.
A cardboard recreation of the Pump Room had been made, people were invited to colour in paper tiles to help decorate it. Lee gave a very good talk on the history of the spa waters in Scarborough and how their discovery led to the town becoming a tourist destination. Games stickers and a LOT of old work colleagues who turn up to work for Animated Objects at such big events. Lovely to see everyone, hear some of them sing and then enjoy some chilled medication before heading home (well the words on the steps told us we had too!).
Seafest fireworks viewed from the Esplinade
Sunday evening Alex, our third lodger arrived. Alex was one of our original lodgers back in 2021 when we first put our names on the theatre digs list, it’s lovely to have her back and we look forward to her performance as Margaret Thatcher in Handbagged at the SJT in a couple of weeks time.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire van filled, 1 visit, 1 boat with her name again, 1 confused cat, 1 full cupboard, 1 empty wardrobe, 1 pantry reduced, 1 Tom at the very top, 1 She squashed in the Shed, 1 Tilly uncertain where to go! 2 days of Seafest, 1 firework display, 6 in Raven, 20 ? Manhattan Voices, 100kg Lego Spa, 2 many old friends to mention, 1 CD required Duncan with the song about traveling to see someone a long way away please!
We were busy returning from the Dales on Monday, so having no news about Oleanna didn’t bother us.
But when Tuesday arrived we started to jump to look at our phones as photos started to come through from Tom.
All back to bare steel and everything else masked off
All the prep work was complete. She’d been stripped, filled where needed. Anodes, doors, cratch etc were all masked out, they were ready to start spraying on the blacking.
We couldn’t spot the new T studs we’d asked for on the bow, Tom reminded us that these were to be stainless steel and they would be bolted on later. New vents in the gas locker had been cut above the rubbing strake above the old ones. Hannah or BSS examiner said that she’d be happy with this location and that the old lower one (that always sits under water) should be left.
New vent for gas locker
Oleanna was now ready to go black, all over! Yes cabin sides as well as below the gunnels. This is a 2 pack paint which is anti corrosive so should help protect the cabin sides. The base plate would also be sprayed. Oleanna sat on jacks so that she could be raised high enough for them to get underneath on a trolley to spray her bottom.
Three to four hours later she’d turned black.
Wednesday morning Oleanna’s bottom got skirted off with brown paper. We wonder how much brown paper they get through a year?
Areas that obviously needed filling got some attention and then were sanded back. The bedroom porthole being the main area needing this.
Then followed a coat of high build 2 pack, turning her grey. You can see this happening in the photo below. A chap stood in a protective suit with mask providing the wearer with fresh air as they worked their way along the cabin sides.
The bow lockers and well deck got coated too, the stern will have been done too.
Across the way from Oleanna sits the next boat, shot blasted ready to have the remaining paint stripped back around the windows. It’s covered in plastic whilst Oleanna is sprayed.
Thursday we had no photos sent. This was a day when a photo would have been one for the archive as the next coat of high build would be yellow! I wonder how yellow Oleanna went? I doubt she will have matched NB Lillyanne’s Rapeseed Yellow cabin sides.
Why yellow? Well this means that as they sand her back to get a smooth surface for the top coats they can see where they need to stop sanding when they reach grey.
Friday. It had been really good to see the progress being made this week, Oleanna changing colour just about every day. One thing we really needed to know though was when we’d be able to move on board and would Tilly be able to come with us?
Messages went back and forth between Tom and ourselves. We were pretty certain that we’d said when we would become homeless at the house, Tom had remembered a different date! Tilly living on board would add an extra complication to the final stages as we’d want her to be kept inside the boat whilst people would be coming and going all day long, putting Oleanna back together again. I’d also been thinking it would not be fair on Tilly to live in the paint shed, her preferred home the boat, surrounded by odd noises and fumes. She’s quite a jumpy cat normally and turning her home into a scary place would not be good. Tom was fine about us moving on board, but we’d have to find a different solution for Tilly.
Home improvements for panto
We needed to put our thinking caps on. She could go to a cattery. A stressful journey there, then to the boat and we don’t have a completion date for the repaint and the other jobs we’ve asked for. If Tilly could stay in the house that would be the preferred choice. However the house is about to become really quite full and if we’re not about the house would also be a scary place.
Not quite, but nearly finished
Should we be living in the paint shed whilst major works were being carried out? This was another question. Dust, fumes would not be good for us either. Vacating Oleanna every day would be helped if we had a car, but we don’t have one. Mick checked out local to us hotels. Our nearest option (not a choice!) but out of interest was a few hundred pounds more than the Grand which comes with a sea view!
One of us could sleep in the room we call the shed, the other stay with friends. This would mean Tilly at least would have a familiar face in the house. But if that was the case, maybe both of us could stay, we’d just need to find something to sleep on in my work room. As we deliberated solutions two more photos arrived. Oleanna had turned cream! This will be her final colour to hopefully help keep us a little cooler in the summer months than we used to be when she was dark blue.
We checked when Clair is booked to do the sign writing, that will be early next week. With the cream cabin sides done this can go ahead, there will still be the red and blue lines and grab rail to add along with the bow and stern going blue. We’d asked if Clair could paint Oleanna’s CRT number back on the grabrail and do the new bow flash, but I suspect these areas won’t be ready for her.
No quote as yet for our new solar panels from Matt, we hope to hear from him next week.
By the end of the day we’d contacted our next lodger and explained our situation and our solution. Poor Alex has been having to move each week she’s been in Scarborough so far and at the end of next week she’s due to move in with us. There will be a bottle neck in the house for a week, one slightly confused cat not knowing who’s toes to snuggling up to in the night, or why normal doors are closed to her, but we believe this will be the least stressful situation for all concerned. We just need to find something to sleep on and move a lot of our possessions down to Oleanna to make room for a fifth person in the house. At least the house will only be chock a block for a week, then we can spread out a bit again.
0 locks, 0 miles, 4 colours, 120 ft plus of brown paper, 2 boaters thinking out of the boat, 2 boaters thinking about moving without moving, 1 cat oblivious, 1 panto model just about completed, 15 sheets of drawings to update, 1 little Frank faux pas, 1 cool seaside town 2 be stayed in for a while longer, 0 surprises this week.
We’d hoped to be able to head down to see Oleanna on Monday, but we also wanted to coincide with Matt from Onboard Solar and he was busy. I worked the whole day model making for panto which meant I could afford to have a day off on Tuesday to accompany Mick to Redhill.
The temperatures in Scarborough were to remain below 30°C on Tuesday, well, they’ve managed to stay pretty low all week, but Redhill was in the Amber zone, so we opted to hire a car with air conditioning. I made sure I had plenty of knitting to keep me occupied in the car, casting on a second sock just in case I ran out.
The journey down was pretty pleasant, the temperature gradually rising the further south we ventured. An eye was kept out for the brief glimpse of the River Trent from the M1, just in case NB Alchemy had headed that way, but no boat was spotted, green or otherwise. Nb Alchemy had actually set off pretty early to avoid the heat of the day and headed for the River Soar, they were most probably already moored up in Zouch for the day the time we arrived at the marina a little before midday.
There she is
The roller shutters were rolled part way up at the front and back of the paint shed, almost a breeze rolling through past the two boats. One chap was busy sanding away the gunnels of the boat next to Oleanna, the blue paint on its bow a mirror finish. Not much left to do on this boat which is headed to AquaNarrowboats for fit out.
Stood in front of Oleanna we could now see where the blasting had happened and where had been left. The front bulkhead was just about untouched, which had been deceiving in the photos we’d had last week, but stood here in front of her it was now obvious why it had been left, the wooden front doors and hooks would need removing first.
Big rusty patch where the wooden rest for the top of the cratch normally sits
Tom was busy with a scabbler stripping the paint off around Oleanna’s starboard side gally window, the last of the paintwork to be stripped on the cabin sides and gunnels. Apparently under the top coats Oleanna had what I think Tom called a filling coat which was taking time to grind off to get back to the steel. This may have contributed to some of the rust patches we’d been getting as once chipped, water could easily get behind it and make it bubble up, the bond between it and the steel not so good.
Dribblyness
A drain from the galley was dribbling, possibly where a damp trap had been emptied down the kitchen sink when she’d been stood out on the hard. Now Oleanna sits at a different angle, so what was left in the sinnk bend is able to leak out. Tom will put a bung in this and clean up before she is blacked.
Attention was given to the porthole above our crossbed. When Oleanna’s layout was designed we wanted a porthole behind our heads and a picture window at the foot of the bed, so we’d have a nice view to drink our morning cuppa’s infront of. Once the plans had been handed over to Finesse, we remembered that we’d wanted to have the stove chimney on the port side. A quick solution was to flip my tracing paper drawings over and rescan them so that the apertures could be cut in the correct places on the other cabin sides.
You can see the rectangle of what was a hopper window!
In early years I’d often stood looking down at Oleanna in a lock, her (then) shiny paintwork slightly rippling in the sunlight around the bedroom porthole. Then after she’d been sat on the bottom in Goole after the Aire and Calder breach, the sun had started to bleach the paintwork, revealing the reason for the ripples. Where the porthole was had originally had the picture window cut in it. Once the mistake had been spotted the hole was filled back in with steel. Thank goodness it was only one opening.
Enough of the anodes left for a few more years
The chap who does the welding had been to have a look at the couple of jobs we’re wanting doing. He’d walked all the way round Oleanna to check the state of the steel. No signs of any pitting, no dints from collisions and the prop dint free too.
The stick on solar panels had been removed. You hear so much about how the roof can rust underneath them, Tom said the roof wasn’t bad at all.
Checking out the gas locker
Now our attention turned to the bow thruster locker, the main reason for our visit, to try find the cause of all the water in there. First things first, empty the water out of it. A wet dry vac was found, but there was far too much water for that, so instead a bilge pump was set up with an added hose reaching out of the paintshed door. The pump was set going, it carried on for getting on for an hour, the colour of the water checked. If it was clear water, that would suggest it had come from the fresh water tank, but it had a tint of canal colour to it, so it had come from outside. Good in one way, bad in another!
You can see where the water tends to sit in the gas locker
The gas locker was emptied of gas bottles and hoovered out. The vents very visibly below the water line. Oleanna has always sat low in the water, most probably lower than thought when the gas locker floor was welded in. When Tom had been removing the windows and their liners he’d noted that above gunnel height the cabin sides had been lined with 18mm ply. This is usually 9mm. I wonder if my choice to not have any visible grain on the painted cabinsides meant they ended up using 18mm? Anyway all that extra weight will be helping her to sit low.
No obvious hole in the locker floor could be seen. So whilst the bilge pump continued to do its thing, we headed to the cafe for lunch. We managed to find a bench outside the portacabin just about in the shade to have our cuppas and sandwiches. Next we headed to the office to pay the remainder of our dues for sitting out on the hard for eight months. We chatted with Mandy about when we go back in the water and that we might need to be on one of their moorings for a couple of days, this was fine with her, if the boat that had been dumped would only move on, it’s been there for weeks!
Redhill is very much a working boat yard. One old wooden cruiser came past heading to sit out on the hard for a while. Then another narrowboat came past, this was laid off outside Tom’s paintshop. It had been jet washed on the hill and was now due to be blacked.
Whilst we’d been elsewhere Tom had managed to get his phone deep into the bow thruster locker to see if there was any sign of where water might have been coming in. He videoed a pan round, the depth the water had been obvious. Right at the pointy end of the bow, possibly the least accessible part of the hull. A rusty dribble from an inch under the gas locker floor which had then spread. Somehow the water was getting in here. Possibly a failed weld at the pointy end of the gas locker floor which always sits in the water. This leak I suspect has been happening for sometime, but Mick reckons he’d have noticed water on the bowthruster locker floor. When was the last time he’d looked in there? Just how long had the leak been leaking? How had the weld failed if that’s where the water is coming from? Well we just need a solution for it.
That looks like where it’s been coming in!
Can it be welded? Most probably not as this part of the boat is likely to have been made early on in the construction, working from bow to stern and getting in to weld it just about impossible. Tom could do a broad band of PU filler around the edge of the gas locker floor, sealing in the weld. Or maybe some two part epoxy putty could be pushed in where the hole might be. We planned on emailing Ricky at Finesse to see what his thoughts might be on a solution.
Matt from Onboard Solar arrived. Mick chatted away to him about solar panels. I’ll let him chat about those later.
18mm ply cabin sides visible here
The odd wiring, loose connections were chatted about. It looks like the cables from the electric cupboard to the junction on the roof had been cut too short on the original fitout, so short lengths had been chock blocked on the end, these were loose when Tom came to remove the junction. Matt will see if it’s possible to replace the wiring in the roof. We’ve dug out photos of the fitout and the cables should run in a conduit along the edge of the roof, but to access this will mean removing the covers which have been plugged with wooden dowels.
Matt is going to email through a quote for new panels and installation next week sometime
So Oleanna will continue to be prepared this week, it’s all in the preparation, After the preparation is completed she’ll have a good clean inside and out. She’s quite a state inside, so I strongly suspect we’ll be hoovering for a while once we start to move back onboard, maybe we should have removed EVERYTHING to make this easier, but we didn’t as that would have required several more trips in a van and then finding somewhere to store it all.
Just because they are there, demolition due 2029/30
Once Tom gets started with painting, the blacking will go on, the whole boat gets painted. Jacks will lift her so they can paint the base plate too, then below the gunnels will be skirted off with brown paper for them to work on the cabin sides and roof. The next coats will go on the day after so that there is a good bond between coats and no need to sand between them. Then layer on layer and sanding smooth will happen to get a mirror finish.
We reminded Tom of when we’ll be needing to move back on board. Claire the signwriter is booked for the beginning of that week so all the major painting will be done by then.
Will high temperatures affect the painting? Tom said that actually the heat will make the paint more viscus, so they shouldn’t need to thin it down. It’s more about keeping himself hydrated as he paints. He wears a suit and gloves, fresh air is pumped to his face behind his mask, so that is quite pleasant. But when he takes his gloves off they tend to be full of sweat! We wished him well, wanting to provide icelollies to keep moral up, but they’d melt before they got anywhere near the paintshed.
We headed back to Scarborough with a little list of jobs that need doing. New fenders, photos of the electrics to find, an email to Ricky.
Wednesday Mick put together an email with photos for Ricky at Finesse. Maybe he could come up with a solution to the leaking gas locker. On Saturday morning we’ve still not heard anything back.
Pretty carrots from our veg box
Mick also chatted to Hannah our most recent BSS examiner regarding the vents from the gas locker. She’d be happy to leave the existing ones and then add new ones above the next rubbing strake which will be above the water line.
Friday morning an email came from Claire regarding the bow flash design. She has worked up the one we prefer, suggesting keeping lines parallel to each other rather than parallel to the shape of the bow, all of which we are very happy with, so she has been given a big thumbs up from us.
My last mosaic session
Little else to report this week. Hopefully sometime next week we will get info about the solar panels, finalise a solution for the leak and maybe just maybe Oleanna will start to change colour, but that may be the following week.
Christmas!!!
Meanwhile I continue to paint my panto model, being in a snowy world is helping with the heat, although we are very lucky not to have reached silly temperatures. The other evening we used the barbecue to roast a mass of root veg from our veg box, the aim of keeping things cool in the house, we however required jumpers as we watched things cooking. I’ve attended the last mosaic session I think I’ll be able to go to, things are nearing completion, and too many hands are trying to fill gaps now. Hopefully soon we’ll get time to think about starting to pack our belongings ready to move.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 hire car, 30+C, 1 cool Scarborough, 1 almost naked Oleanna, 1 shiny neighbour, 1 leak! 1 welder with Gogo Gadget arms required, 10cm christmas tree, 18mm! 1 prospective lodger informed, 1 last mosaic, 1 set of bow and stern fenders to find.
An update at the end of a week when the weather showed potential but then turned out to not be on our side!
Oleanna was moved out from her resting place of the last eight months on Tuesday. Yes this is now the longest we’ve been on dry land in twelve years. She was moved round to the hill ready for blasting on the next dry day. Her baseplate was blasted and then she was lowered ready for the cabin and hull to be done. Friday was ear marked as a possible day.
Blue skies in Scarborough
Friday came, Mick headed to watch Yorkshire play cricket and I headed to London for my white card model meeting for panto. Both of us had lovely dry days. Sadly a raft of showers were forecast to cross over Nottingham, Redhill Marina actually, so the blast was postponed till after the weekend.
Blue skies, with clouds in London
Whilst on my train heading south I had a phone call from Tom, our boat painter. He was removing all the fixtures and fittings before the blast could take place. They leave windows in to avoid ingress of the grit, but nav lights, aerials, cratch and pram, plank and pole rack amongst other things, all get removed. He was having severe difficulty in removing the cratch A frame. He could reach inside the gas locker and feel that there were three bolts, but none of these had nuts on them. Did I know anything that might help as they didn’t want to force the A frame and end up breaking it.
I recollected a conversation with Ricky at Finesse, when he told me that the cratch was there to stay, we’d never get it off! Handy when you want to repaint your boat. It appears to have been glued on so well that it will end up staying in situ. The blaster has been advised to give it a wide berth, then Tom will strip the paint right up to it by hand, protecting the woodwork. Oleanna will be given coats of rust-inhibiting paint and Tom will make the join between wood and paint work water tight.
Photos and measurements have been taken for a new hole in the gas locker, so that it actually vents to the outside. This will happen once Oleanna is stripped and moved into the paint shed. Tom said to expect to be inundated with photos early next week. I’m so hoping it’s very early next week as I’ve lots of work to do on Panto and could do with uncrossing my fingers!
The cricket it going well, Yorkshire achieving lots of runs. It’s nice for Mick to be able to make good use of his Scarborough Cricket Club life membership for once.
My model meeting went well, a few notes which I expected, indeed even asked for. A new draft of the script now needs reading to check through in case I don’t know about something that’s been added or removed. Then I can get on with adding colour to the model and finalising the drawings. I just need to find someone in Scarborough with an A3 scanner as the printers and architects I used to use have both closed now.
Tom Tom, please get on with it, they keep taking me to the VETS!!!!
I hope to post again , once Oleanna is stripped and ready to paint. So tata for now.
0 locks, 0 miles, 1 stripped bottom, 1 stubborn A frame, 2 boaters wondering if they’ll ever get their sea legs back, 1 cat whisperer beaten, 1 more notch in my tail! 1 design meeting at the National, 1 thumbs up, 3rd WC alteration, 1 more mention for Duncan, 1.5 pairs of socks knitted, 3 days of cricket in a row.
A bit of an update before we get going on what Oleanna news there is, as I’m conscious that some are missing out on the design of panto this year.
Chippy Panto. The Snow Queen model box has been stripped back. A storyboard was drawn up, ideas swapped with Caroline the Director. Then I’ve worked on the white card model, a couple of versions have been worked on and now I’m starting to work on the sketch working drawings so that quotes for the build can be worked out. I have a white card model meeting in London next week, so fingers crossed everyone likes what they see!
Bridget and Storm have been to stay. It was lovely to spend some time with them and show them around Scarborough. The tide was well and truly in, and they met up with Freddie. Hopefully they’ve had a great time on a hire boat with their grandkids and they’ve had more thoughts of being boat owners once again.
John Godber recently turned 70, so there was a big catch-up with lots of old Hull Truckers at The Little Wold Vineyard near Brough. The dress code was ‘A nod to the 70’s’, so with two charity shop shirts and half a metre of suitable fabrics, I adjusted the collars and made us each a kipper tie. It was great to see so many people from my Hull Truck days to celebrate John’s birthday.
Us
On the hottest day of the year so far we travelled over to York for a night with the London Leckenbys in their top floor flat. Gosh it was hot! Wonderful food as ever, time to catch up with them all, Josh currently in the middle of his second year exams.
At around 10pm we had a walk down to the River Ouse where the air was cooler. A sign on the Blue Bridge, where the Ouse meets the River Foss suggested that work was ongoing at Castle Mill Lock. So we wandered up to take a look in the nighttime gloom. New lock gates were sat on the bank, and the lock had a work boat in it and two cofferdams were doing their best to keep the lock water free for the works. We had been planning to come up to York this year and had hoped to be able to get onto the River Foss. But with the slipping of time on Oleanna’s repaint we’ve run out of time to visit as we want to be in the south by the end of August.
We now have two lodgers living with us, both rehearsing for Calendar Girls at the SJT. So we have a full house which will get fuller in just over a month’s time, so the clock is really ticking now until we become homeless.
Everyone with their heads down, cutting tiles and sticking
Mosaicing is having to take a bit of a back seat whilst panto needs my attention, but I try to go to a session every other week. Things are progressing very well and I suspect all the pieces will be finished soon. Sadly I don’t think I’ll get a chance to help with the installation, but hopefully that will be because we’ll be moving back onto Oleanna then.
I’ve had a break from knitting socks for a few weeks, making a cardie for myself. But now I’m back on with Felicity Edition Sockathon Socks in memory of my friends Mum, Felicity. I have several pairs to knit for children, so I’m concentrating on those before their feet grow too much!
I’ve also been doing some trial baking. Just which is the best GF cup cake recipe? The jury is still deliberating and wondering if a third version would be worth trying, however Spanish Buttercream has been deemed too much work for not enough flavour. Our alpine strawberries are doing very well this year after transplanting some into a urn at the house.
There have also been numerous walks around Scarborough, I’m quite enjoying seeing the town full of visitors and at a time of year I’ve not been here for in over a decade.
Tilly still waits in hope for an imminent return to Oleanna. Whenever a bag is brought out she makes sure she is the first thing to be packed. Well, I can’t have them leaving me here with all these singing Shes and annoying cats can I !!!
0 locks, 0 miles, 2 trips away, 1 confused cat, 70, 2 kippers, 12 cupcakes, 2 ex boaters, 30C, 1 emergency cardie, 1 mosaic coming together, 2 new lock gates, 1 white card model ready, I think!
