After painting the stove flue I tried it out today - no leaks in evidence - i bought a carbon minoxide alarm just to make sure - seems to be sound after two lots of high temp rubber sealant.
I bought a box for the front of the boat to store extra ballast and wood/coal, it is lockable and I fitted chains to keep it on the boat as well as feet to raise it above the water filler.
Another job I decided to do was re-arrange the front ballast on the boat - i noted yesterday that there was unused space underneath the water tank - viewable from the water cut off valve hole. There is a removable panel around the valve hole so i removed the panel and filled the hole (which is the v shaped lower bow section) with broken slabs and stone from the port dinette locker. This left missing ballast in the locker so i had a hunt around the mooring site for more broken slabs to make up the ballast in the locker. Unfortunately some of the slabs appeared to have been the subject of a watering by several dogs and therefore there is an odour of an old peoples home/charity shop in the boat at the moment - i expect the smell will fade soonish when the slabs dry out!
One final job to sort is the entry hatch which needs a handle fitting - I have bought the handle and will fit it next week.
I am thinking of fitting a tarpaulin to the back deck to keep the rain out of the engine bay and will use the handle to tie the tarpaulin to as well as the handrails and rails around the cruiser deck.
