Jobs done

Having told us he'd arrive "first thing" this morning, Colin came late afternoon - after delays! - to look at our thermostat. His first instinct proved correct, and he identified a faulty unit which was stuck open. He'll order a new one, but we're not likely to have it fitted before a week has passed. In the meantime, we have a number of jobs we want to get done, and made a good start on the list yesterday.

We fitted a new seal to the lid of the weed hatch for the bowthruster. The lid took a great deal of effort and leverage to come off, and the seal was badly damaged as a result, as expected. Replacing it was simple. Oddly, the weed hatch does not give me access to the propeller at all. I expect people with very long arms and possibly more than one elbow per arm would be able to feel down the hatch, bend 90 degrees and feel along the thruster tube a foot or so to the prop. I am not built that way, so I'm hoping I'll never be in the position where I wish I were. There is a grille over each end of the thruster tube, which should keep weed and suchlike out. Fingers are crossed!

We put new carpet on the steps up out of the bedroom to the engine room. They look so much better now. This afternoon, we'll buy a new board to put behind those steps (it covers a bolted hatch in the engine bulkhead), and carpet that, too.

I removed the awful, plastic carpet pads on the forward gunnels which have passed for step mats in the past. The resulting damaged paintwork and gluey mess which had to be cleaned off made the job tedious, but we have new, rubber mats ready to put on, and the paintwork is sanded down ready for a new coat or two. We'll paint the foredeck at the same time.

These, along with a fair bit of cleaning and tidying which cropped up along the way, amounted to a good day's work. The weather was great, and my face took on a deeper shade of brown. I think it's fading my hair, too!