Housekeeping

This would normally have been 'car shuffle' day but as we ended up back where we started this time, that was not needed. Instead we allocated the day to various housekeeping tasks that normally get left 'to next time'.

Christine spent most of the morning sorting out the various clothes boxes, mainly in preparation for the change from the cool to warm or even hot season. This past week has actually been generally remarkably warm.

Mike had a short list of maintenance tasks, none of which was very substantial or earth shattering but inevitably each turned out to take rather more effort than could have been expected. One of the internal bolts to the bow doors has gradually become more annoying: it holds the door closed as well as ever but has lost its ability to stay unbolted, to the extent that just closing the door caused it to drop down into its recess in the door frame. First, Mike tried to see if a little force from a hammer might tighten it up enough but the metal declined to be at all malleable. We had to go in to Banbury to get some bread rolls, both for today and on the way home tomorrow so we stopped off at B&Q to buy a replacement. They had the right size in stock but when we got back to the boat we discovered that it did not have the same 'footprint' as the original, with screw holes in quite different places and overall much narrower and would obviously be a replacement. So, he thought, we will fit he new one at the top where the roller blind hides it from  normal view. At this point, he thought to fit the bottom one at the top (not a problem  being a bit loose this way up, it just drops down out of the way) and use the top one at the bottom. The bought one is now in our spares box where we already had one of the right size left over from Take Five but brass not chrome.

The main task set by Christine was to sort out several of the cupboards with tools and spares bits, as well as a box that had been sitting on a bunk bed for some months! 

The rear deck port locker had let in rain again and as Mike was drying it out, more rain arrived but at least he discovered how it was getting into the locker -  through the holes for the self tapping screws holding the lid hinges. These had to be removed during last year's repaint but they are no longer tight and thus leak. Of course, only two of the three in each hinge would shift. By now Mike was reluctant to drill them out, not sure whether we have the right size self tappers in our screw box. In the process he found some epoxy filler that we bought last year to deal with a similar problem with the screw holding the rear door lock in place. That fix seemed to have worked so let's try it here, by forming a large lump to mould around the underside of the screw, keep them steady and perhaps, may be perhaps, also keep the rain out. We shall see but if not we now have a better measure of what is needed and how long it might take. It might be that bolts and nuts, rather than self tappers is the way to go, especially as there is quite a bit of load placed on these hinges.

Normally, car shuffle day sees Christine giving the boat a good clean through whilst Mike is gallivanting around the public transport system. Yesterday, Christine asked in the marina office if they knew of a boat cleaner and was given a name of someone that does quite a bit of work here. She called immediately and has booked them to come in whilst we are back home - relief!

It looks as if it will be 4 or 5 weeks before we can cruise again, not least as The Arm needs plenty of time to heal properly. Her first visit to the fracture clinic in Swindon is on Wednesday so hopefully we will have a better estimate then (it might advise longer, of course) Some re-planning of this year's route is needed. We had been intending to go down the Nene and onto the River Great Ouse - we have never made it quite as far as Bedford. However, we do know about the manual guillotine locks on the Nene which are rather physically demanding. A route confined to narrow locks will be our first consideration but that will be busier sections than the lonelier parts of the empire that we normally head for in the summer. We shall see . . .