Privacy

Waiouru has a beautifully made set of timber stable doors leading from the main bedroom to the cratch.  The issue was privacy, or lack of it! 

Initially Jan was considering blinds or curtains but couldn’t think of a method of securing them.  Then she discovered quite by accident that if both wardrobe doors were opened they covered the windows.  A solution had been found. 

Unfortunately it became apparent this wasn’t a permanent solution as the wardrobe doors would automatically close as the water tank emptied and the bow rose.  Jan then started hanging clothes on a coat hanger across the doors which held them open for awhile.  But a more permanent solution was required.  Back to thinking about blinds or curtains.

Today I had a good look at the problem and identified a solution involving cup hooks.  A walk to Wickes at Brownsover resulted in the purchase of two 152mm chrome cabin hooks.  I taped the cabin hooks in place to check if the idea would work.

When the wardrobe door is shut the long arm is concealed leaving only the eye exposed above the door.  By pressing on each piece of tape I was able to define the four screw holes.  Remembering how the joiners at Aldermaston had fitted screws I then drilled a pilot hole followed by a 2.5mm final hole.  Using a “sacrificial” screw I threaded the four holes and then fitted the two cabin hooks.

The method appears to be a success.

Earlier in the day I gave the port cabin side another wash and dry before applying a coat of Craftmaster polish.  The new 240V polisher made short work of removing the bulk of the polish leaving the awkward corners to be completed by hand. 

After that there was time to dive down the weed hatch and check the propeller.  It was still there. <phew!>  Reaching the propeller isn’t a task I enjoy.  It requires me to lie on the floor and get my head and shoulders down the weed hatch.  That’s the only way I can reach the propeller. A boat went by as I was wriggling back up out of the hatch and a voice with flat Kiwi vowels said “I know where that place is! (Waiouru) I did my army training there. It’s a cold miserable place and I got put on a charge for throwing snowballs!”  I didn’t get to my feet in sufficient time to read the boat name but Jan told me it was a Maori word.

I phoned White & Bishop mid afternoon to enquire about the delivery of my new Meindl Burma Pro walking boots.  Apparently they will arrive on Saturday.  It won’t be in time for this week’s walk because Daniel and I are planning to do that tomorrow.