Throughout January and February we are mostly painting boats. Sammy and Sumo are getting a nice new livery for this year and some out of water maintenance. On a very rainy day at the beginning of January both boats were craned out of the water at Oundle Marina and popped into the shed for some TLC after a busy year going up and down the river.
Here is Sumo on her way into the shed. This is the last time you'll see her in this colour - when she comes back out of the shed she will look like a completely different boat and be green and red to match Sammy!
Meanwhile Arwen and Spencer Bear have been busy helping to take out curtain hooks so the curtains can be laundered. Spencer Bear looks fascinated by the whole experience!
The first job was to power wash off both boats and remove a few freshwater mussels and weed, let them dry and then sand off the hulls and cabin. Any rust spots were then treated and Sumo had an ultrasound scan to check the thickness of the steel which she passed with flying colours!
Sammy is first in the queue for painting and here she is after several applications of undercoat - a nice shade of battleship grey!
A quick look underneath the back end of Sumo now she has been cleaned off
We're now at the stage where Sammy has gone green again and is just in the process of having her red back panel painted on. Then it be will time for the coach lines to be reapplied and her name to be added. It would be good if it warmed up just a little bit as trying to apply paint in sub zero temperatures is no fun as it doesn't spread very well!
Sammy's got some new magnesium anodes fitted on the front and back of the hull
We're certainly getting through a few tins of Toplac and Pre-Kote and there is still another boat to go!
In the meantime, I leave you with a sign that Spring is just around the corner and it won't be long before we're back on the water - see you soon!
