Finished blacking and welding

The rear anode proved more difficult than I hoped but after a good clean I managed to get the weld to stick. I finished the blacking this morning and the boat is now ready to go back into the water tomorrow - lucky with the weather and the wind has helped the drying process.

Anodes

Unfortunately my welding skills leave much to be desired so I aborted the first attempt at attaching the front starboard anode Until I got help. My errors summarised - didn't clean off the surface of the anodes or receiving metal enough - note that the anode strip is galvanised to stop rust in the chandlers and this needs to be cleaned off/ground off before attaching -it also gives off a noxious gas when heated! I also earthed the anode on the hull using the magnet I bought - bad idea I could have made a hole in the hull - luckily I noticed the small indentation forming and lack of welding rod melt. The front anode was done in the end by Eddie at the boat club when he got home from work. I decided to have a go myself at the rear one port side and after several attempts I managed to attach the anode. I will have another go in the morning to improve the weld. As noted earlier I will only replace two anodes this time. The painting is almost done so the boat should be ready to go back on the water  Saturday.

Boat out

Managed to get the boat out ok despite the damaged rail. On inspection the hull looks good on the port side but the pitting on the starboard side is a bit of a concern. Will probably have it plated next time. For now put rust primer on it before the blacking. I have some time off work this week to do the anodes - the original ones are still ok so I might just put two on this time. The weather forecast is poor so hope I am able to get all of the jobs done.

Overnight trip to shardlow

Boat ran ok but we had a slow journey down as we got stuck behind a pair of Shakespeare boats being taken to Nottingham. The company went bust recently and presume have been skimping on maintenance as the family on this one had a non functioning engine. The two boats were lashed together and made a slow passage - the family on board appeared to be less than useless in assisting the pilot of the remaining boat. Stenson lock is normally slow but took over an hour to get through. The volunteer lock keepers were good in parts at stenson, swarkestone, Weston and Aston. They didn't turn up in numbers on Sunday with only stenson being manned. We had a basic meal at the clock warehouse - a building with more dead spiders than my boat which is unusual. The boat ran ok if a little noisy - I would love a quiet slow revving engine - but probably unlikely now as my income is no longer high enough to support boat ownership. I will probably sell up when I have finished the next round of maintenance. The slipway at swarkestone has a damaged rail at the moment but may be useable with caution so we may take the boats out this month if allowed for blacking and new anodes.

A bit of a rub down

Chipped the loose paint off and rust treated the fore and aft decks - will primer on the week - the rear lockers are rusted through at the base - need a rear cover ASAP 

Boat ready for trip out

Got the boat ready for a trip out next week. Topped up anti freeze, topped up water and stern grease and added fuel cleaner to diesel. The engine started ok and ran ok. Will probably take it to shardlow next weekend. The spare mooring at Findern went for £2,500 per annum for 3 years in the auction - a premium of £3000 over the next three years! No sign of the new neighbours yet. The local swans have got 5 cygnets - felt guilty today with no food for them - I think the male lost his mate a couple of years ago - so glad to see him fixed up again.