The job continues

Thursday's hull survey went well. Paul was incredibly thorough, and talked over a few minor issues with us. We still have to see the full report, but he assures us that all is well.

Gale finished the first side coat, applied a very thick bottom coat, then did the second top coat. Meanwhile, at Paul's suggestion, we had an anode fitted in the bowthruster tube, to reduce corrosion there. We also had a piece of metal cut off which was protruding a few inches from the front of the bottom plate. Paul considered it a safety issue.

Finally, Gale cleaned and painted the weed hatches, and we shut ourselves in for the night. It's very odd, moving about in a boat which doesn't rock, but vibrates as it sits on its supports!

On Friday morning, there was a thin covering of snow (which later melted fairly quickly), and a strong wind. Kantara was lowered back into the water, with a very clean and tidy, black hull. The wind was far too strong even to contemplate starting our way back, so we negotiated with Nicky, Debdale's administrator, to moor outside the wharf, where we had moored when we first arrived. She kindly gave us a mains electricity hook-up. It snowed again that afternoon, and the strong winds continued into the night.

We've awoken this morning to more snow, and I took a broom to clear quite a lot of it off the boat. As I write (11:30am), the snow is melting, but the wind has increased again. The forecast is not promising, but we'll judge the conditions day at a time until we deem it sensible to get back to Yelvertoft - which we'll endeavour to do in one day. Since we have to be moored, this is a good place to be.