The windscoop at work before it went AWOL 😕
The best part of the day was when Dean completed the bookcase he has been making at home. There was a space under the wardrobe in the forward cabin that was the ideal spot, and the ever resourceful Dean used a spare matching cupboard shelf and a strip of old teak. The exciting part is that the teak was from a dodgy old bit of pontoon that was lying waste in Port Solent a couple of winters ago. Now shaped to size and varnished to match it's perfect.
This teak no longer looks like a bit of old pontoon
Ooh nice....these books are going nowhere!
Sunday 14th May... BIG news today, Saffy has a boyfriend! Leonard (the dog) belongs on a boat a little way along our pontoon, and he comes here for weekends just like us! There's been quite a few people around this weekend, and we got chatting to Leonard's mum and dad. They inspired us to let Saffy have 'freedom to roam' on deck and pontoon instead of walking her about on the lead. Maybe Saffy will come round to the idea that she can pee in private on the deck (without us knowing??). We still put the life jacket on her, and then let her walk up and down the deck as she pleases. She's getting used to it and seems to be quite happy although rather flummoxed at first as to what was going on. We, the over protective parents are also slowly warming to her new found freedom, and keep a constant eye on her. We don't really want a DOB (Dog Over Board).
I'm not sure what's going on here, where's mum and dad?
Might as well have a look around then
There was still a pretty stong wind but it was very pleasant and sunny. We couldn't really decide whether to go for a sail or not, so in the end we stayed put. Maybe that was a good idea, because Dean needed to lend a hand to two nearby boats this afternoon that were finding it difficult to berth in the strong winds. One of them was on a neighbouring pontoon and so Dean quickly jumped into our dinghy and motored across to help. We also saw another boat across the river which was having real difficulty, even with people on hand helping. The problem is that if you are getting blown off the pontoon you can't get in close enough to tie up before the wind takes you, especially if you only have a small space in-between other boats.
Linda spent the afternoon methodically detailing our array of nautical charts we have gathered so far, and downloading the Chart Corrections from the Imray website. Dean recently bought her a special Chart Corrections pen. Looks like it's up to her to keep all in order. This could be a long job, thanks for that Dean.
Later on the wind dropped considerably and we were able to tackle another job, that being Dean going up the mast to lubricate the roller furlers. He's been up there quite a few times now for a variety of reasons. He always says it's exhilarating but at the same time glad to get back down safely. This time, Linda managed to get a photo looking upwards from the cockpit. Can you spot him?
Dean's mast walk, well sort of...
Monday 15th May... As predicted we woke to dark clouds and wet windows, and it pretty much stayed that way on and off throughout the day. The place was somewhat quieter with nearly everyone gone home after the weekend. Either that, or they were hiding inside their boats. During a dry period we turned the boat around to face South because Dean wanted to scrub the hull's port side waterline, having scrubbed the starboard side earlier. Of course, the ever resourceful Dean has a home-made gadget for this job, made from two empty pop bottles and a bit of coarse material.
Doing our best to keep Thesee's bottom clean
Two pop bottles help to keep pressure on
The rough scrubbing side
Not much happened today really apart from another attempt at sorting out the ignition light....still ongoing, and a quick clean of the joker valve in the forward heads. Plus the last helping of Trifle went down very well after dinner.
Nice to have a relaxing weekend here at Wicor for a change
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