As there were only a couple of sports events on TV today - the British Grand Prix from Silverstone and the World Tennis Championships from Wimbledon - I thought I would pop over to see how Skylark was getting on.
My main worry was not knowing if the water levels had changed much during the recent rain storms and if the ropes had tightened or loosened up. The last thing I want is to find her hanging from her moorings or drifting towards her neighbours. As it happened, the bow and centre ropes were all tickety boo and everything else was just as we had left them last week.
My aim was to spend most of the day pottering in the engine room. I turned the engine on the boost the batteries but after about 30 minutes the engine over-heated so I topped up the coolant with a further 2 litres or so. This will be dealt with when Mike does the 100 hr service.
My first job was to fit the small wooden seat I'd fabricated to enable me to sit of the edge of the hatch as we're going along without creating two tram lines in my arse. Job done.
Once that was sorted out I turned to the new boat hook and found that the existing small barge pole was exactly the right diameter. Lucky or what? It was then just a simple task of cutting a groove with a saw and then trimming the end down to match the brass hook.
Step one: measuring up and making the first cuts
Step two: forming the taper.
Step three: Ready to take the two screws.
Step four: Finished!
Of course as it is now so much more than just a wooden barge pole, it will have to be kept inside the boat when it's not being used. It's far to nice to leave on the roof!
I thought propped up next to Sue and Chris's barometer looks the biz.
(I hope someone remembered to sweep up all the shavings)
I also fitted the brass bracket just inside the rear hatch...a perfect fit...it could have been made for the job.
So far so good but then something went a bit adrift - literally. To test the bracket, I put a fairly large umbrella into the round bit and it worked well but I thought it needed to be held in place with a twist of electrical cable tie to stop it from flying off in the wind so I looked for a piece in my tool box. No sooner had I started to rummage, I heard a loud plop and saw my umbrella floating off across the river. Oh dear I thought.
So, it was not the end of the world, just go across the river and fetch it. When I got there, I found it had come to rest in an area of weeds slightly too far to reach so I beckoned a passing hire boat. As Dad steered the boat near the umbrella, Sonny Jim leaned over the gunwales and got within 3 inches of it but failed to get a grip before the boat went past it. Oh dear, that was close I thought. The umbrella continued to languish in the weeds like a half sunken barrage balloon. But all was not lost, Dad decided to have another go and as he reversed, the boat shot a load of white water under the umbrella and it sank more like a lead balloon. I could just see it lurking in the depths, well below the surface and far beyond anyone's grasp - so close and yet so far.
Both Dad and Sonny Jim apologised for failing to get it but I said it didn't matter, they had done their best, that was all I could have expected. I thanked them for all their efforts and went back to the boat - umbrellaless.
Lunch took all of 10 minutes so I put my feet up and watched a bit of the prelims of the British Grand Prix. I then switched over and caught the prelims of the Men's tennis finals. Realising that this lack of activity was not going to get anything done in the boat, I got up and fixed a couple of hooks to the boat to hold my extending pole - the one I would normally use to recover things like floating umbrellas. I then fitted a coat hook in the loo and shower room. Busy afternoon!
I left at about 3.30 and got home to see Jose Federer and Murray Firth still slogging it out on centre court.
To end, I will add a shot of the step edge in the rear hatch. I know you're keen to see it.
It's even nicer close up!
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