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Week 158

Sunday

We probably should have said this before but we suppose that its only just sunk in. Looking at the week count - now 158 - you'll notice that its just over three years since our boat was put in the water. It is largely finished - the back hatch still wants lining when we can work out the best way of doing it without drilling holes that may let rainwater in but, at the same time, provide a means of securing the hatch in the closed position to replace the wooden wedge that we currently use.

The fitter wants to replace the trusty dining room table - the one that we bought for our first house when we wed, over thirty five years ago. We also want to replace the frame around the front door to round off the arisses - none of my speel chickers like that word, but woodworkers will know what we mean (where two adjacent edges of the same piece of wood meet, often at 90° and, from bitter experience, quite painful (and colourful, as in the funny red stuff) when you hit your head on them.

Perhaps we'll then modify the side hatch framing, which isn't quite square, has a join in one side because we were too lazy to prepare a longer piece, has plugs that are distinctly a different colour to the rest of the frame and also has square arisses. This may result in modifying the screen that we place over the hatch so that it is square and, possibly, made into two hinged doors rather than a removable frame.

And then there's the windows. The plywood surround immediately adjacent to the windows has worked well. The wooden window opening frames themselves, likewise. However, having the surround, vertical and horizontal frame parts all as separate items doesn't stand up to close scrutiny and there is a danger that when the inside of the boat is cosy and the outside not, the condensation that forms on the metal frames drips down between surround and wooden frame and may cause rust on the metalwork. The fitter would like to carefully remove the component parts after equally carefully marking them and glue (or otherwise secure) them all together before refitting them. This might eliminate the risk of rusting and improve the appearance.

The down side to this is that some of the trim across the ceiling will need to be removed to do this on some windows so we may tackle the two smaller windows first because ceiling adjustments aren't necessary.

We have plans for some longer cruises in 2010 if things turn out the way we hope at the boatyard but a decision on that could still be some way off.

What we're trying to say in our usual verbose way is that we're not sure whether we'll keep posting here on such a regular basis. We set this up primarily for family and friends - if you knew how few people read this you'd know that we have a small family and few friends - so that they could follow the story of our boat. We've deviated a bit to cover working on the trip boats because that has had a major impact on the time taken to fit the boat out.

Writing about Rachel's fit out could be deviating a bit too much from the original intentions.

We'll carry on for the time being and see how it pans out. So back to the week under review.

After the first week of retirement which seemed to be spent mostly at the computer, the fitter decided that he really ought to get off his rear and do a few other things. Consequently, after breakfast on Sunday he headed for the garage and a bit of a tidying up session. He want's to replace the lathe and the Triton and replace the base of the bandsaw with a homemade offering that contains some storage for the blades.

There have been numerous offcuts of both plywood and blockboard gathering dust in various places around the garage and the stack of wood, some of which was bought originally for wood turning, has gradually been slipping all over the floor so that was the first port of call. A good brush up followed and then the top of the bench was given a going over with a few things put to one side to go to the tip.

Working at a leisurely pace - they tell us that's what retirement is all about - it took until lunch time to complete these tasks. We'd just managed to put the remnants of all the Ash offcuts on the Triton to be sorted later, when lunch was called and the fitter had to go and carve the meat. This is the first Sunday lunch at home for a while and daughter had been invited around to share it with us.

During lunch Mrs. Fitter happened to mention a lump that had appeared on the front of the fitter's right leg with corresponding internal bruise marking and swelling on the foot. Daughter had a look and together with her Mum decided to investigate a possible diagnosis on the Internet. The result was a call to NHS Direct with the fitter's call returned within thirty minutes and after some detailed discussions, the fitter being told to sit for the rest of the day with his foot elevated and to see his GP on Monday morning.

And that is just what happened. The garage was closed, the laptop brought downstairs and the fitter spent the rest of the day either on the computer, speaking to family, watching television or reading.

Monday

The fitter had a fitful night, laying awake and uncomfortable for much of it. We got up about 7.30am, had breakfast and he sat with foot elevated until 8.30am when he started trying to contact the surgery. After about ten minutes and some thirty attempts - the only way to get through is to keep hitting the re-dial key as soon as the previous attempt has failed - he managed to get an appointment for 11.20am

He continued his resting and reading/using the laptop until 10.30am when he had a cup of tea, climbed wearily into the car and went to the surgery. The computer based registration process didn't like him so he had to join the queue for the receptionist to advise of his arrival. He found a vacant chair and had read about ten words of his magazine when the GP called for him.

The GP diagnosed a probable burst blood vessel and told the fitter to book an appointment with the nurse for a blood test. The fitter returned to the desk, joined the queue again, and booked the said appointment - for two weeks hence! This was the earliest that it could be done because the GP asked for a fasting blood test and these need to be done early in the morning. The fitter asked the receptionist to check that this long wait was acceptable to the GP who seemed keen that the blood test be carried out. The receptionist didn't seem to appreciate what the fitter was saying (or did and thought the fitter was making a mountain out of a mole hill) and simply gave the fitter the appointment details.

There was no point in making a fuss so the fitter headed for home. Now free of any requirement to take things easy, the fitter changed into his working togs and headed for the garage where the grand tidying up session continued. Most of the Ash that had come back from the boat and had been lying on the floor more or less ever since, has little possible use (if you're in a clearing up mood) so it was cut into small pieces on the bandsaw and put into carrier bags to go to the boat for kindling.

This was followed by a trip to the loft to return some of the things that had been borrowed for the Rachel trip and, whilst we were there, to liberate the Christmas decorations.

The fitter spent a little while musing over a replacement for the bandsaw's base. Something that can be used to store blades and, at the same time, will be a little less prone to collecting dust from the saw.

The afternoon concluded with a trip to the local tip en route to the dental technician's to have an imprint made for a bottom denture, something made more necessary by the gradually diminishing number of real teeth the fitter has attached to his bottom jaw.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on the laptop and most of the evening watching television, including the programme that daughter had recorded about London Transport's architecture. T'was a bit sad that so much emphasis was placed on the Underground when until a few years ago London Transport ran the capital's buses as well.

Tuesday

The fitter had an appointment on Tuesday afternoon and was due to accompany Mrs. Fitter on a visit to the hospital before that. We'd been awake since before 4am and, apart from having a cup of tea in bed soon after, had lay until about 7am by which time the fitter's leg was, to say the least, uncomfortable.

We had breakfast and generally busied ourselves around the house for a while. Mrs. Fitter was at church all morning so we hung around waiting for her lift to show. It didn't, so the fitter took her to church in the car and then, on the way home, went via the car wash. He was back home a little after 9am and pottered about on the laptop for a while. He wanted to contact his bank but couldn't do so until 10am but didn't want to get dirty in the mean time even though he'd dug out a box of long since dried bowls that he'd turned on the lathe when the wood was freshly cut. He had some thoughts about trying to finish them off.

He never got that far because he eventually contacted the bank and arranged an almost immediate appointment. This lasted an hour and, by the time he was free, it was chucking it down. He managed to dodge the really big spots by scooting from cover to cover as he headed to church and a light lunch. He made excuses to drag lunch out whilst it was still raining and then seized the opportunity to walk back home the moment the rain stopped.

He walked out of the front doors and round to the side of the building and the grey clouds overhead gave way to clear blue skies just a short way away. He got home without another soaking.

He had an hour to kill before he needed to be ready to collect Mrs. Fitter - she was originally going to walk home and then to the hospital but we'd agreed over lunch that she'd be uplifted by car and taken to the hospital in case the weather turned sour again. The fitter spent the hour and a few short periods later in the day watching a DVD about a rather nice but expensive new woodturning lathe and what could be done on it.

We were at the hospital for about forty minutes, including the walk to and from the car park and waiting to see the consultant. Back home we had about an hour before our next appointment, which lasted for ninety minutes, after which we ate. The fitter then escaped the weekly soaps and headed for the laptop to watch the end of the DVD and then write up these notes. The part turned bowls remained untouched in their box in the garage.

We've advertised the present lathe on the Internet and have had a couple of general enquiries. We're hoping that this will result in a sale.

Wednesday

The first task after getting up and having breakfast was to gather up the few things that needed to go to the boat. The fitter was heading that way as soon as he could and Mrs. Fitter would join him on Thursday afternoon as she had appointments at home before then.

One of the jobs Mrs. Fitter had to do before she could go out was to complete the decoration of a cake which she needed to take with her. This took longer than planned and meant a somewhat belated start for the fitter by the time we'd also grabbed the few frozen items that were to go to the boat.

Nonetheless, and shortly before 9.30am, we set out. The fitter dropped his wife at church and then went straight to the boatyard. He took laptop and freezer bag to the boat, opened it up, lit boiler, unpacked freezer bag, lit the fire and then went back to the car for the remaining few things. He also put a bagette in the oven to cook for lunch time.

The fire wasn't fairing too well and got a bit more attention before the fitter went and got changed into his working clothes. He headed off towards Rachel when he judged that the fire might survive.

His first job for the day was to complete the removal of the excess spray foam on and around the battens. He did a little before morning tea, had to go back to his boat to breathe some life into the fire (twice) and completed the majority of the foam work by lunch time.

Self preparation of food at lunch time tends to extend the break so the fitter had slightly longer than normal for lunch.

The Boss had been painting his own boat in the morning and joined the fitter after lunch. We moved the first plywood panel into the boat. We measured the position of the vent in the roof that needed a hole cutting and that was cut. We then made up a couple of props, inverted the panel and hoisted it aloft, wedging it in place with the props. The general ambience changed. Gone was the reasonably light foam, to be replaced by a varnished Oak faced plywood panel. The fitter could see why the Boss wanted to paint the ceiling and upper walls white.

Some time was then spent discussing the positioning of the kitchen lights. As can be expected, we also looked at light positioning generally relative to the layout of the boat so that we could be reasonably sure that we'd got the kitchen lights in the right place. We also broke off to work out roughly how much wire we would need to order.

There were also discussions about the way that we'd position the various panels to minimise the number of visible joints that would need trim over them and to ensure that said joints weren't too close to bulkheads and the like, making the end result look untidy.

We stopped for afternoon tea after which the fitter had to go and check on the dog of one of the moorer's.

Back on the boat we pre-drilled the fixing holes for the panel and drilled pilot holes where the lights would be fitted. The panel was then lowered and the fixing holes countersunk. The panel was then left resting on the work benches to be painted the following day.

The fitter returned to his boat around 5.30pm and had just sat down to eat when he was interrupted by the moorer whose dog he'd attended to. Lucking the interruption only lasted a few minutes.

Early evening television followed and then, about 8pm, the fitter headed back to the office to spend the evening working on the accounts with the Boss. He returned to his boat about 10.30pm and didn't feel like going straight to bed so he made himself a drink and sat reading for over an hour, before finally turning in.

Thursday

The fitter had slept amazingly well on Wednesday night for although he woke once during the night it was nearly 8am by the time he stirred for the second time.

He clambered out of bed, washed, dressed and had breakfast and was just in time to tumble out of the boat at the pre-determined time that he'd agreed with the Boss. The Boss wanted to go to Wickes to look at lights and paint but also wanted to do some painting on his own boat. The weather at this time of year generally precludes painting until mid morning so we agreed on Wednesday that we'd go shopping at 9am and the painting would be done when we got back. The fitter was thus surprised to find the Boss was painting when the fitter stuck his head out of his boat. The shopping trip was then delayed by about thirty minutes, giving the fitter a chance to check his mail.

The Internet connection was so poor that it took several attempts to connect to the Internet and, because of one or two large mails, the fitter only just managed to download his mails. He didn't get a chance to do anything else before the Boss was knocking on the window, ready to go.

We went to Wickes first and spent an age looking at paint, side stepped to looking at kitchen units and showers, the former increasingly being offered these days with real wood doors/drawer fronts (as opposed to laminated man made boards), and then looked at lights. We walked out with just a tin of varnish, which we had paid for!

Next we went to B & Q on a similar mission. Here we found a much larger range of paints but had great difficulty in deciding which shade of white we wanted, finding the associated sampler tins and then, when we were almost there, finding a tin of the desired colour in satin finish. However, we eventually did, went and had a look at lights, none of which enthralled, picked up some plumbing pieces for the grease monkey, checked out and headed back to the boatyard where we arrived just after midday.

We decided to have an early lunch, rather than change, start work in the boat and then stop, all within about an hour. The fitter hadn't envisaged being away for so long in the morning and hadn't prepared his food, which involved cooking another bagette, so he ended up taking nearly an hour for lunch.

The Boss was just finishing rubbing down and applying the first coat of emulsion to the plywood panel when the fitter joined him on Rachel. The Boss experimented with several ideas from straight rolling to laying off afterwards with a brush. This panel was very much a sample for the rest.

We spent most of the rest of the afternoon discussing where the various light fittings would go, how the services would be routed and where the light switches would go.

The fitter broke away to collect Mrs. Fitter from the station and then, on return, for a belated afternoon cup of tea. After tea and whilst Mrs. Fitter prepared the evening meal, the fitter and the Boss concentrated on administrative tasks in the office.

We ate on our boat, the fitter had a doze afterwards, before trying more successfully to check his mail again and then headed to the pub for the quiz. There were three teams present and ours wasn't first or last. We walked back to the boat around 10.45pm, stoked the fire and were in bed before 11pm.

Friday

We woke a few times in the night, made a cup of tea around 5.30am and eventually got up at 8am. The fire was on its last legs but, as we didn't plan to spend much time on the boat, we decided to let it die out. Eventually, however, with a few embers still visible, we took the opportunity to rattle the grate and then clean the ash pan out, ready for our next visit.

We had breakfast and then, having packed as much as we could, the fitter took Mrs. Fitter to the station for the 9.09am train and then went back to the boatyard. After a few minutes the Boss was ready and we headed off to a tool show via Wickes in Hemel Hempstead. We got the lights but not the hole saw that we'll need to make the holes to fit the lights.

We carried on towards the motorway not really knowing either how far or how long the journey to the tool show would take. As a result, we didn't know if we had enough petrol so, at a convenient Shell garage we pulled in and topped up. The remote cum key has to be used to open the fuel filler cap and the fitter kept filler cap and key in his hand as usual. Five, yes, five times the car doors locked and the fitter is sure that he never pressed the remote accidentally that many times.

We set off again and, annoyingly, within a few hundred yards and just out of sight of the Shell garage, was a Sainsbury's garage. The fitter had a 5p per litre off Sainsbury's voucher with him and could have saved about £1 had he not stopped at the Shell garage and filled up at Sainsbury's instead.

We plodded around the M25 and were soon at Kempton Park racecourse, where the tool show was being held. We must have been some of the last to arrive as the car park was full (as was the building when we entered). We wandered around, looking intently at some things and less intently/ignoring others. We checked out the things the fitter has on his wish list, some of which were on offer at the show but, pending sale of the items the fitter already has, have to stay on that wish list as we just don't have room for both.

We hadn't been able to buy the hole saw that we wanted at Wickes but managed to pick one up at the show and this was the one and only purchase that we made. We headed home after little more than an hour, by which time the hall seemed to have emptied, but the car park less so.

There was a delay on the M25 because a car had broken down on the contra-flow section, so the return journey took a little longer than planned.

We were back at the boatyard just before 1.30pm and went straight to lunch. The fitter wished then that he'd stoked the fire because he wasn't too warm, so put the central heating on while he ate.

Back from lunch and we went to use the office computer but couldn't because it was already being used. Instead we spent the next couple of hours plotting the position of lights and the wiring runs before roughly measuring the amount of wire that we'd need to order for Rachel's wiring.

We gave up once we'd got the requirements for the front cabin and went for a slightly belated afternoon tea.

Thursday's emulsion had dried by Friday morning and the Boss was able to put the second coat on before we went to the tool show. That coat hadn't dried when we got back, nor had it done so by the time we got on the boat after lunch. With a distinct nip in the air (and us not getting any warmer), the Boss eventually moved the gas heater from rear to front cabin and lit it so that we'd have some heat and the paint might dry.

The finish on the now painted plywood panel was not as expected. There was evidence of the grain in places but not as much as had been hoped. It looks as though the initial varnishing may not have been such a good idea and we've left the Boss to decide what he wants to do now. There was no chance that the plywood would get a third coat on Friday and no chance that it would get put up either.

After tea we settled to some outstanding administrative work that dragged on for just over an hour, by which time we both decided that we'd had enough. The Boss packed up and the fitter headed back to his boat to empty the fridge and gather up the last few that had still to be taken to the car.

He was on his way home by 5.45pm having discovered that his phone had switched itself off with a flat battery, without warning sometime during the day, so he had to wait for it to get some charge before he could pull over and let Mrs. Fitter know he was on his way home.

He unloaded the car on arrival at home and ate soon afterwards. He spent the early part of the evening watching TV and then headed for the laptop to catch up on mail, forum and these notes, disappointed to find that nobody had made an offer on the lathe. It looks like it might end up on eBay, where it may not raise as much money as might be hoped for.

Saturday

Regular visitors to this site will be aware of our dismal sleeping patterns. Saturday didn't bring any change although it would have been nice. The fitter woke twice and Mrs. Fitter woke once, at 5.30am, but we decided not to have a cuppa. We stayed abed until around 7am and then got up. The fitter was spending the day largely at home, whilst Mrs. Fitter was going out with daughter for the day.

We had breakfast and then the fitter re-waxed the coat that he'd bought just before our October cruise and which was now in need of some attention having been cleaned following some close associations with slimy lock walls and the like. The fitter hadn't quite finished the task when daughter called for her Mum.

With the jacket complete the fitter turned his attention to the recently acquired pile of paperwork that he'd been given by his financial advisor. He decided that he'd better read through it (even if he didn't then understand it) and he proceeded to do this, expecting said advisor to call around at a pre-arranged time of 10am.

The fitter had long finished reading and had even started writing up these notes when the advisor called. He stayed for a short while. The fitter then went shopping. A letter to deliver to the building society, some epoxy resin to mend something for Mrs. Fitter and some batteries to replace the dead ones in one of the walkie talkies. And because he was planning to walk, over an hour's worth of exercise!

It was lunch time when the fitter got back and, after lunch time to rest his eyes. He was disturbed by someone posting a leaflet through the letterbox for nail treatment so he decided it was time to move.

The garden hedge and the growing number of dead leaves have wanted action for some while so the fitter thought that he'd surprise Mrs. Fitter and clip the for stray branches from the hedge and, whilst clearing those up, pick up the leaves at the same time. About thirty minutes and one full garden waste bin later and both jobs were done.

The fitter had been meaning to advertise the lathe, Triton workcentre and a couple of related bits for some time. He'd put the lathe on a woodworking site, got a couple of queries but no other interest so, having put off two evil deeds previously - registering to sell on eBay and actually advertising the items, he set about doing both.

First he had to locate instructions and various bits and pieces for the items that were for sale, then it was out with the camera and one of two precarious shots plus a few normal ones. Finally, off to the laptop to register with eBay. He managed this on his own and was part way through advertising the first item on eBay when wife and daughter returned home. Thank goodness for that, as daughter, a seasoned eBay user, was able to assist in setting up the first advert.

We had a small Chinese meal together and watched a bit of television before daughter decided it was time to return home to her cat, who had been home alone all day. The fitter and Mrs. Fitter watched television for a bit longer and then the fitter returned to the laptop to list more items - he managed one and that took so long that he missed the start of the annual Saturday evening Remembrance service. We watched the end of that and then went to bed.

How did we find time to go to work. In fact, retirement is more tiring than working, at least as far as the social life is concerned, with visits here and visitors there! We're off on another jolly at the start of next week - a jolly which keeps being extended in duration. When we return we are more or less straight off to the boatyard again for a day or two working on Rachel followed by our annual early winter cruise with some other boats from the boatyard. This trip which has previously had to be limited to just two days so that the fitter could return to work, has been extended, now that work isn't interfering with our social life. Who knows when we'll get time to next update this site?

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