Hatches & Portholes

The porthole liners were fitted today. However Richard had to first complete the process of cutting the rebate out of the back edge for the porthole latch.  As each one was rebated I gave it a good coat of ‘Impreg’ to improve its resistance to water.  Richard has also cut the liners so there is a 1-2mm gap between the liner sand the aluminium porthole frame.  He informed me he has done this on the boat before ours and it appears to prevent the condensation which forms on the aluminium from staining the oak.  We have an option.  Either we can leave the gap and allow any condensation to possibly migrate down the wall to the bilge or we can fill the gap with a bead of silicon.  We haven’t decided on which of the options to adopt.

Toilet porthole

All the screw holes will be plugged and sanded before the porthole liner gets two coats of varnish.

We immediately the visual impact of the liners.  No longer are there raw edges to each of the eleven portholes.

Richard then went on to fit the oak liners to exterior doors of the second side hatch.

All the steel will disappear after he has fitted the internal oak frame and the two glazed internal doors. We then removed the sliding rear hatch so Richard could make and fit the oak lining.

OK….. The blacking didn’t arrive at the yard today (again!) so we have been unable to finish Waiouru below the gunwale line.  This last coat protects against ultra violet light.  If it isn’t applied then the two pack epoxy blacking will probably fade grey or brown.

After lunch I caught the local bus to Newbury where I visited B&Q (Bunnings for Aussies and Placemakers for Kiwis).  The plan was to purchase some galvanised shackles for the bow and stern fenders along with a few lengths of foam pipe insulation.  The latter will be cable tied to the fender chains to protect the paintwork.  Meanwhile Jan baked chocolate cake in the microwave.  This is a favourite as after a few days it gets slightly chewy in the middle and crunchie on the outside making it even more delicious!

Towards the end of the day a couple (Mike and Anna) poked their heads through the doorway into the paint tent to look at Waiouru and after a brief chat we discovered they were from New Zealand.  Like us; they are early retirees.  However they are backpacking around the world.  They spent last year travelling through Asia and this year it has been western Europe.  They happened to be in the area an wanted to see what a canal lock looked like!