Slow progress

I only managed to get to Robinetta twice in the past fortnight, so progress has been horribly slow. It's too cold to work outside with the temperature below 5°C, but now I've got an electricity hook up I can run our trusty fan heater in the cabin and be snug while I sort out the galley.

The rib at the aft of the galley (inside the cabin, but abutting the cockpit) is a cause for concern. This is the area where the rotten galley work surface occurred, and the screw holding its support in place went straight into the rib. The screw corroded totally and the rib around it is very soft. I've dried it out thoroughly, and put wood hardener into it, but I don't think it has much structural strength left. Its position means there are a lot of other supporting timbers, so I'm not too worried but I'll have to keep an eye on it.

One of the scantlings is also soft, so soft I've been able to carve out the rotten area. It's above bulwark height though, so I'll just fill the missing area with epoxy once its hardened up.

I've got two coats of primer on the galley area, and most of the support batons in place. Next job is to cut the ply for the work surface. I've made a template out of corex, so I'll cut the ply at home in the garage. I don't have a heater in there though, so it's really difficult making myself do it!

Collected posts

I've been collecting the blog posts into book form for a while. It makes it easier for me to look back and find comments I've made about events. Today I've published that book of collected posts on Kindle.

I've published on Kindle before, (my teenage fantasy books (which no one buys) and my Sci-Fi books which some people do). Those were simple to prepare since they are only text, but the Robinetta blog has a lot of pictures and I'm not sure how well I've done it. Any way, if any one apart from me wants a portable version of this blog, go to Amazon, and search for:-

Robinetta: her five year mission to seek out the places everyone one else says are good.

(That extended version of the title is down to Julian. Mine was "Being the little adventures of a small wooden yacht on the East Coast of England")

Just Robinetta should find it!

Please leave a comment here, or better yet a review on Amazon, if you read it!

Galley Again

The new sink arrived very promptly, and was perfectly as described. I'd definitely use Penguin engineering again. It's been sitting at home ever since, telling me to get on and go to Robinetta. I finally had a free day when the weather was not too bad to face the trip, so headed off in bright sun shine.

Only 2C when I got to Mersea, but I'm kind of used to the cold now.... Foredeck cover full of water as expected, but still on properly, so I did not bail it out. The water holds it still when the wind gets up, and that's a bonus with the foredeck hatch still in the garage.

Used the hand pump to warm myself up, then finished bailing inside with the electric pump to see if it was working. All good, so the solar panel must be getting enough charge to the battery.

I took off the last of the formica from the galley area, then washed the woodwork. I'll sand it down next time, since it was still damp two hours later. Julian wants to try a different tap in the galley, so I fitted the garden hose end we bought. The old kitchen tap is now above the basin of the vanity unit where it fits surprisingly well. The water pump did not sound so good when I tried to check the flow from the pipes. I suspect that the small amount of water we left in the tanks is frozen solid.....

I brought the cooker and bowsprit home to clean and varnish.