It’s getting so close to our splashing back into the water and as I write this we’re cramming as many last minute jobs into our days and collapsing in a big heap at the end of every day!
The cutlass bearing finally arrived and when I saw Baz hugging the box from Exalto Bearings, he reminded me of Scrat, the ‘squirrel’ from the Ice Age movies who was always chasing an acorn and the occasional times he got hold of it, he hugged it like it was his long lost friend. Such was Barry’s expression when the package was delivered, it made me smile.
What we’ve accomplished this week
Baz filled the gap between the keel and the hull with Sikaflex 295UV.It’s a nice thick fill, and Baz took extra care to squeeze enough into the deep holes – until it seeped out – so we are confident it is a strong fill,
We put primer and antifoul on the keel and rudder,
I cut Barry’s hair on the beach on the day we’d earmarked to paint the hull, but rain threatened, so we postponed the hull anti-fouling and I gave Barry an awesome short summer hairdo. (Talking myself up there!),
Baz put a new anode on the bow thruster and then I painted antifoul into the thruster tunnel,
Baz painted around all 15 of the through-hulls to make it easier when we get around to painting the hull,
Baz sprayed a metal antifoul onto the prop, prop shaft and also the safety bars that cover the bow thruster tunnel,
After learning that Vaseline eats into rubber, Baz took the new saltwater inflow seal off the aft heads, cleaned it and treated it instead with silicone spray,
Baz replaced the anodes on the keel, ensuring there was metal on metal connection,
I cleaned the sticky (sun damage) gunk off the fenders with acetone.
Kitten update
Mum and two kitties are doing well. She has moved them out of the hot confines of their Barbie house and they are now living in one of the stone wall rings that surrounds an olive tree behind the studios. Its cooler in the shade and mum also has a good 360 degree view from a higher vantage point than before. The babies have grown well and they are doing great under the watchful eye of their protective mum.
I feed her twice a day and she seems to enjoy a cuddle as much as eating. It’s always a bit of a trick getting the food to her because the other boatyard cats and the two dogs can smell it and almost pounce on me as a herd when I open the studio door with the little bowl of cat food. So I give them a handful of pet biscuits to keep them semi-satisfied, and hightail it over to where Barbie is. Fortunately the old Barbie home is well fortified so I still feed her in there to prevent her having to fight for it.
Of course we’re leaving soon, and unless another long term boatie arrives before we go, who I can pass the gauntlet to, I will have to give the remainder of food to the very busy boatyard owners and hope they are happy to continue with the duties at least until the kittens are a bit older.
Anyway, this is one of those cases where one just has to trust in the natural order of things. Mum has looked after herself well at the boatyard for two years already and while she does seem to be an ex-owned pet, she seems to have strong instincts. So whatever her fate, I am sure she will survive as well as she did before. And her babies are growing in strength by the day, so they have already had a better start to life than most strays.
If you’re interested, I will of course, keep you posted as to the arrangements when we do leave.
If you’d like to see the video that accompanies this blog, just click here.
Until next week, I wish you a very pleasant week and that you get a little closer to your dreams and aspirations.
