KITTY'S PROGRESS

Kitty has now been named. The name Kitty was Susie's idea. She hand painted her name, the pussy cat picture and T/T Lady Cate on the stern.






 

Susie is a brilliant craftswoman who also makes great jewellery from beads and seeds.






  

Poor Kitty was getting badly scraped against the pontoon so I have fitted her with rubber rubbing strakes on the side and on the top of her gunwales.



  

Here she is back under Lady Cate's bow all the better for naming and her rubbing strakes.

VARNISHING - WHOOPEE

The wind is gusting 25 knots, making Lady Cate twist and turn at her moorings. It's lovely to be in this lively weather. (Well, when moored up!)

A boat is an endless project of maintenance and improvement. That's what's (!) been filling my time.

Varnishing

 Lady Cate's wheelhouse and topside fittings have been in need of a serious refurb
 for some time. So now I'm getting down to it, starting with the starboard side of the wheelhouse and the starboard bulwark strake. Preparation by endless sanding down is the key. Sanding is very tedious, making potato peeling for an army quite preferable.

[Perhaps George Herbert, (17thC poet, priest and hymn writer) got it right with his poem now known as The Elixir. (http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/herbert/elixir.htm)  Turn tedious actions into praise by taking a new perspective on the task.]

This is the area of activity. I have already sanded down and varnished the section forward of the door. Please note the shine.

I took off the sliding door retainers and the step up to the poop deck.These I could work on inside. The door itself is in fine condition, so I'll leave that 'til later.

Outside has to be timed with the weather. The BBC Met Office forecasts have been notably accurate this week.

  

 

But, as you can see, the strake is in parlous condition.

 

Now looking much better.

But there's much more to do!

More soon.