Much of the previous post talks about the work that other people did to Escapade, but we were not sitting idle; we were working lots too!
Not being technically skilled, most of my jobs were, what I classed as ‘unskilled labour’. I did plenty of taking things to pieces, cleaning up parts and trying to find tools and equipment hidden in various places around the boat.
My biggest jobs were removing and running new hoses to and from new toilets, replacing all of the linings in the lockers, re-varnishing and re-covering locker ceiling panels, cleaning out the water and fuel tanks, re-lining the engine room with reflective material, servicing the manual bilge pump and re-caulking some of the teak decking! A far cry from my day job as a headteacher of a primary school!
These jobs may sound varied, but they all had things in common. My tasks generally required me to be on my hands and knees scraping, sanding or cleaning various parts of the boat. They also usually required me to become a contortionist, squeezing into small spaces and bending my arms and torso in directions I never thought possible!