One of the most exciting things about Escapade finally being launched was the access to water. Prior to the launch, the only water onboard was water that we carried up the ladder in a plastic bottle and also any water put down the sink just fell straight out onto the car park – not a good idea! The implications of this was no water from the taps, no toilet and no washing up! It did however, give us – or that would be me – time to clean out the water tanks.
We have a tank capable of holding 600 litres of water which is separated into six compartments. These are all under the floor/seats in the saloon and accessible from six small circular holes. The first of my jobs was to remove the polyvent lids. This was, as always, not as easy as it sounds as I am pretty certain that they have not been off for years, if ever. No amount of twisting would budge them, so eventually I had to resort to hammer and chisel. (Adding 6 new lids and seals to the shopping list)
Next job was cleaning the tanks which were covered top and bottom in black spots of mould. Once again, there was no easy way to do this. Many a joyous hour was spent face down on the floor or in the seat base with my arm in the tanks scrubbing vigorously with a scourer! The end product was well worth it though as we now have beautifully clean tanks full of fresh water. The joy of turning on the tap, having a shower and running a bowl of hot water to wash up with.
Another overdue job which could be carried out once Escapade was afloat was the leak test. This required us – again me – spending most of the day soaking every inch of the boat while Martin checked lockers, ceiling panels and the new windows for any leaks. We found a few, but they were soon mended.
For any of you concerned about the amount of water used to do this, fear not. We borrowed the pump and fire hose from Fox’s Boatyard and all water used was straight from the marina and obviously ran straight back in again.
This was a very wet job, so it gave me the chance to christen my new foulies. No leaks there!
The question that comes to mind is
What are New foulies?
But we’ll done on the scrubbing 🤪😳😘
They are my amazing fireman orange ocean going wet wether coat and salopettes or foul weather gear affectionately known as foulies! X
They WOULD have looked good on break duty in your previous job – and the hose may have been useful for some of the fire-fighting too!
I did wear them to an assembly once…the children were very impressed!