Lockdown has meant that we have had to change our plans. We were expecting to leave Ipswich in April and head south. By now, we should have been crossing the Bay of Biscay to Spain and Portugal. Obviously, we have had to put this on hold.
Whilst this is disappointing, the positive is that we have plenty of time to continue to work on the boat. Yes, there are still jobs to do; there will always be jobs to do! However, there is now less urgency, so we have been able to do some jobs from our C list…
Bell Fob Pulls
One non-essential task for me was to make new pulls for our guard wire gates. The old ones were perfectly functional, but were old and a little mouldy.
Thanks to YouTube, we now have six new ones!
Wheel Cover
Another C list job was to cover the wheel. The old cover had degraded in the sunlight and the stitching was almost non-existent. We had bought the cover kit a year ago, but put it off as there were more important jobs to do. Lockdown and a change in the weather to rain, meant that now was the perfect time to do it.
The kit came with instructions, but YouTube again provided additional information and guidance, including a better ‘locking’ stitch. We also changed the thread to one with a wax coating which would hopefully be more UV resistent. The down side of this was that it was like sewing with dental floss and required gloves to protect the fingers.
It was a tricky job, sometimes requiring two pairs of hand, but, several hours later, I was very pleased with the finished product, especially the Turk’s Head knot to mark the top.
Very professional, no end to your talents.
It just goes to show that it is never to late to learn new things….beats working too!
Hope you are all well X
Very impressed Caron, your skills are coming to the fore.
I have a long way to go to catch up with Martin though!! He knows so much and is learning more every day…. xx