Been remiss and a catch up due

Hi all,
I've been really lazy as far as the blog is concerned and not got round to posting recently so, again, my apologies.  Not being a continuous cruiser just yet makes it difficult to find sufficient interesting stuff to post about.

A few weeks back we took the opportunity to use our annual free haul out to re black AmyJo's hull.  This year we have tried a new product called KeelBlack (www.keelblack.com).  Its a new water based bitumen that is so watery it can be applied with a paint pad and comes in 5 litre cans. It also has the added advantage that it can be applied on a hull that is not completely dry.  Being water based it absorbs any moisture on application.  When dry it is tough and hardens further when the boat is relaunched.

 I know many will be thinking that won't be thick enough and won't last but if the claims are to be believed it is as good as two pack and should not need redoing for 5 years.  Its far cheaper than normal bitumen and you use a lot less.  We put 4 coats on AmyJo so only time will tell how effecective it is.  I'll keep you updated on this.

Cleaned ready for the first coat

First coat on and looking OK so far.

We had rubbed down the gunwales to freshen them up but typical British weather meant we ran out of time, we only get a week out on the hard standing.  These will need doing when the weather is dry for a day.  Don't hold your breath!

Friends of ours gave us a load of cooking apples from their tree so I decided I'd try my hand at baking Apple pies.  I have to say I surprised myself when they were cooked as they turned out pretty good.  They may look abit rough but they tasted great.  The tray did clean up OK by the way and was not as burnt as it looks.  We have just been given more apples so....

They may look a bit burnt but they were pretty good after all.

As AmyJo is now 3 years old I've started to find little jobs need doing on her paintwork.  One such task was to repaint under the hand rails.  These did not have a full coat of paint and were starting to rust.

I managed to book AmyJo into Taylor's Dry dock in Chester basin.  There was no need to drain the water so we remained afloat but the roof and facilities made it better for painting when it rained.

First I needed to decide how much needed to be painted down the cabin sides. Then pencil line was added so only rubbing down to the line occured.  I had a willing helper who was more hindrance than help, but it was nice having him around even if I did have to chase Smudge down the cabin roof several times to retrieve my brush.  Once the rubbing down was done I applied a coat of Furtan rust converter before painting on the primer and undercoat.  Smudge got a much needed bath too :-)

Long haired brush becomes short haired

We knew getting a perfect colour match was going to be virtually impossible so for ease in future touch ups we decided to repaint the rails in the darker grey used for the cabin panels.  I have to admit I did not like the idea at first but now their done I quite like the look to be fair.

Under cover of Taylor's dry dock

Masked off and primer added

The end result

Apologies for the quality of the pictures as I only had my phone to hand during the process.

We only had the 6 days available so had to leave the dock before we had chance to do the gunwales so they are still not done yet!

We are not heading back to Tattenhall straight away but are going to take a few days to do so.  We're currently enjoying a few days in Chester by Cow Lane bridge and will move on to Christleton tomorrow.

Our new crew member, Smudge, is now able to be walked and not before time.  He has settled into boat life really well but being a puppy hates being left alone.  He is constantly by my side when I am at home.  He loves his walks and its doing me good too having lost half a stone already!

We refrained from crating him when we went out but this is what we came home too on several occassions.  The last straw was  the kindling drawer under the log burner pulled open,  The drawer front chewed and bits of chewed kindling everywhere.  The latter I could cope with but when he chews the boat wood work enough was enough.  He is now crated when we go out.  I don't like crating him and he is not happy being left in it but I'm worried he'll do more damage otherwise.  All part of owning a puppy I guess.

A ripped up magazine

With a cute face like that it's hard to be angry with him for long.
And he knows it!

Now he is being walked regularly he has calmed down somewhat so we have booked him, and us, into puppy training classes which start on Thursday.  Interestingly the first lesson is without Smudge present.  Guess we need training just as much as he does.