Singing (and painting) in the rain.....

The recent spell of hot dry weather has come to a thundery end up here.



Pity it did so half way through the fifth coat of primer on the aft deck, though...

Fortunately, I have plenty of large plastic sheets to hand and hastily improvised a tent with some gaffer tape and a few bricks. The new tiller extension is acting as a very efficient ridge-pole, so with a bit of luck, it will last until the final top-coat is dry.

I went into Ely and back on Friday to pump-out: a pleasant trip, and had it not been showery, I would have been tempted to stay over-night. But an afternoon in the wet followed by a possibly noisy night (the summer carousings of weekend binge-drinkers are too tiresome for me these days) and the threat of nocturnal interference with the boat by drunks persuaded me to return that afternoon.

We ventured down to our local riverside pub yesterday evening. Despite the lovely weather, it was strangely quiet. This was explained when I rang Mum to find I was interrupting the climactic games of the Wimbledon men's final! Ooops! Sorry Mum!

Anyway, we enjoyed a couple of pints then made our exit. This is always a bit of a performance, as it involves turning on our own length to point in the right direction for home. I've had quite a bit of practice at this particular manouvre, however, (odd that......) and it all went off smoothly, no doubt much to the disappointment of other patrons who where hoping to see us either ram the boats moored in storage on the opposite bank or reverse scrapily into the concrete at the pub's mooring. But Pippin is such a sweet handling boat for her size, and I'm almost inclined to think she enjoys the opportunity to show off. The prop-walk combined with the wind and river current meant she floated round beautifully. Bow-thrusters? Pah! Fie upon them! They are the Devil's Outboard! (Right up until the point when you really need them I suppose, though up until now we've managed with only the stern-thruster just fine........)

The Ducks have paid for their Klaxon, which will be fitted when James and I have donned our Marine Engineering costumes (ex-actors like me have to be dressed appropriately, love) and fashioned a suitable bracket.

Meanwhile, I am off to Emmaus to squander the folding money on more toys, sorry, I mean Useful Stuff.....

Shhhhhhhhh!