Blacking

Muriel came out of the water on the 14th of November  to have her hull blacked - the protection her steel needs against corrosion.  Pillings Lock carried out the work for us and we are very pleased with the result.  Not least with the fact that the sacrificial anodes are still in reasonable condition after nearly four years - a testament, maybe, to the marina itself if there is little electrolysis going on.  Pilings Lock also fitted a copper sleeve in the cup at the bottom of the tiller shaft - there had been a lot of play which allowed vibration in the tiller arm.  

The procedure to get her out involved a large, hydraulic trolley pulled by a tractor.  The trolley`s rams adjust the relative height front to rear and keep the boat as level as possible. We lightened M - minimum fuel and water, and a pump-out - in order to lessen the risk of distortion and she seems to have come through the experience well.  And, after an end of season polish and touch-up (previous post) she`s looking great.

M will probably spend the winter on her mooring now as I think it unlikely we will venture out before next spring.

M`s stern showing rudder, prop and one of four anodes

She was on the hard for about a week having the blacking done. Thankfully the weather was dry (although Pillings Lock Marina do have large workshop she could have gone into) so the work progressed uninterrupted.  We could have stayed on board (some do, especially if they are doing the work themselves) but the lady in the black fur coat is getting on and would have struggled with the climb up.  So we just popped in to see her refloated and headed back to Devon.

On the trolley - M prepares to be refloated

Off her trolley - nearly.  M being relaunched

Me, M and the lady in the black fur coat

Wash & Polish

Muriel is now back home in Pillings Lock Marina and we are at our home in Devon.  We`ve had a great end of year cruise, blessed by the weather and the presence of Vera, our aging Labrador.  The final few days were spent outside or close by Pillings Lock, washing and polishing. And touching up the paintwork - an endless task as any boater will tell you.  The thing to remember every time you go into a lock, head towards a bush or go alongside a concrete side wall, is that everything below the gunwale (top of the hull) is fair play; everything above is sacred.  In other words: expect to do a bit of T-cutting and touching up.



Polishing M outside Pillings Lock Marina



We use a car wash & wax on M and then polish her sides above the gunwale with a good `pure` wax, and below it with an ordinary car wax.  The latest batch of touch up paint has come from Halfords (all you need is the RAL number and they mix it for you) which Sue applies with a small artists brush.  The whole affair takes a couple of days but it`s worth every minute, not just in looks but also in protection.



M`s turned around and coming back through Pillings flood lock - for more polishing


















M will come out of the water in a couple of weeks time for blacking and I will head back to Pillings to see her.  There are a couple of issues we need to address while she`s on the hard standing.  Number one is whether or not the anodes need replacing (M has 4 x 2.5kg) and the second, if the juddering we are experiencing in the tiller is due to a problem with it`s bottom mounting. Neither is a big problem - anodes are easily tacked on next to the remains of the old ones and the bottom of the tiller has a simple cup type fixing, so there is probably an easy solution.

M sits at Millers Bridge near Pillings Lock



End of the year - M enters Pillings Lock Marina



We pumped-out and had a well deserved drink in the cafe-bar at Pillings.  (Pumping out the waste tank, running the water down and not filling the deisel tank limit M`s weight as much as possible for when she is hauled out for blacking). The following morning we said goodbye to friends and headed South to a lunch invitation in Towcester - it was a pleasant way to end our trip. Then it was South-West to a mountain of mail.