To Do list

Another shopping trip in to Newbury today on the JetBlack 1 bus.  After more than 12 months the journey is getting to be somewhat monotonous!  We split up with Jan heading to Dunelm Mill whilst I headed across the car park to B&Q.  My purchases consisted of a rack of 6 chrome cup hooks on a pine base and a roll of gaffah (duct) tape.  The plan is to remove the hooks from the pine base and remount them on a piece of oak.  This will be screwed onto the cabin wall in a suitable location where it will be used to store keys, etc.  The gaffah tape is going to be used as reinforcing for the edges of the carpet I’m going to cut.  The pieces of (yet to be purchased) carpet will go on top of the lockers in the cratch and cockpit where it will have a dual role as both protection for the paint and seating.

Meanwhile Jan had purchased another rubber backed mat.  This one will go on top of the vinyl in the back cabin.  She also looked at coffee mugs as a few of those we purchased on arrival in the UK almost 18 months ago have some chips on the rim and should probably be consigned to the rubbish bin.

The next stop was Screwfix where we purchased a pack of 10 ¾” Terry clips.  The intention was to use them to secure the mooring pins somewhere in Waiouru.  The problem is finding a suitable location.  I’m reluctant to start drilling holes and screwing clips on walls only to find the location could be better utilised.  Jan suggested we store the pins in the bow thruster locker but that would mean having to open the cratch cover every time we needed to moor.  Somewhere at the stern seems a more logical location.  However Fixing them to the cabin wall might mean we have exposed dirt covered pins.  I need to have another look at the stern locker but as it already contains the header tank for the Hurricane heater and the started motor battery there isn’t much room.

Jan headed towards Poundland (for a bargain) whilst my next purchase took me to Halfords where I purchased a small pack of ‘R’ clips.  These will replace the split pins that hold the wheels on the folding sack truck.  On the way to Poundland I stopped at the cheapest barber I’ve been able to find in Newbury.  Obviously Saturday morning isn’t the day for a haircut as the shop was full to bursting!  Meanwhile Jan had found what she had been looking for in Poundland…… Inca style woollen hats with ear flaps.  Here current one was purchased for $5 before we left Australia so we was very pleased to be able to purchase an additional two for £1 each. 

There was just enough time to do a quick shop in Sainsbury’s before catching the bus back to Waiouru.  Our route took us down an alleyway we hadn’t previously used and Jan pointed out there was an interesting scene of the old Town Hall clock tower.  We hadn’t brought a camera with us but I then remembered the Samsung phone had a camera.  No a great photo, but it give some idea of the scene.

The building in the left foreground appears to be both very old and quite interesting.  It also contains the local Tourist Information Centre (TIC).

Back at the boat Nick informed us he and Mark had fitted sound insulation under the engine compartment deck panel.  I’d been concerned about the noise and vibration from under the panel and mentioned it to Andy.  Nick and Mark fitted 1”x1” pine battening around the outer edges of the underside of the panel.  They then cut and fitted a piece of Thinsulate heat and sound insulation blanket inside the battening.  All of the edges were then sealed with an aluminium foil tape.  Finally, a strip of flat rubber adhesive tape was fitted around the outer perimeter of the pine battening.

On starting the engine it was apparent the rubber seal has eliminated the vibration in the floor panel.  Furthermore, the insulation has deadened much of the engine noise.  Most of the remaining noise is migrating up the hollow control column and out the engine air intake vent.  So that’s another tasks completed.

What’s left on the list

• Carpet & vinyl
• Final coat of paint on the rear deck
• Touch up painting
• Seal vertical joints in the side hatch gutters

The carpet layer is due either next Friday or the following Monday.  We’re nearly there!