The first task for the day was to lightly sand (key) the undercoat Darren applied yesterday. It’s the first time we have “keyed” paint and are not all that sure how much we should sand off. So it was a very light sanding and we didn’t bother to brush and wipe down the surfaces. We’ll ask Darren tomorrow if he is satisfied with the sanding before cleaning the surfaces.
Darren had also suggested the gunwales be prepared for undercoating so I got stuck into the bow area. It was nearly all hand sanded and I have the blisters to prove it! 
Meanwhile Jan caught the community bus to the Sainsbury’s supermarket at Calcot to restock some essential supplies. She returned at noon looking rather “chuffed”! Apparently she placed her senior’s concession card on the reader and it was successfully scanned. As she went to walk off with the card the driver asked to see it. Jan has concluded he wanted to check the photograph as he suspected she wasn’t old enough to be eligible! 
Nick has been working in the cockpit for much of the day. The hole for the Morse Controller (the boat gear lever and accelerator for non boatie readers) has been expanded and he also managed to cut the hole for the 240v shore-power socket. His last task was to fit the bow thruster controller into the hole I’d previously cut. I still need to cut a small hole for the camera monitor socket. It will probably go to the right of the bow thruster controller.
Richard has fitted door hooks to the removable top step in the back cabin. The intention was the hooks will retain the step. However he discovered it still rocked slightly so he fitted a horizontal oak batten immediately above the step on the bulkhead wall which now holds it firmly in place.
Whilst he was making up the batten I asked if he could make a further two battens for the other two steps. I also asked him if he would router a groove in the batten. You will probably see why I requested this in the next photo.
I found four 40cm lengths of LED strip lighting on EBay going cheap. The seller advertised them as the LED’s found in the headlight of an Audi car. However they make excellent step lighting. Three have been used on the rear steps and the 4th will be used for the sole front step into the cratch. They are controlled by the Empirbus system and the intention is the lights can be activated by the remote control. So when we return to Waiouru in the dark the steps will already be illuminated.
No comments :
Post a Comment