Hello!
Although I only spent a day and a half on the boat it's been an excellent week of progress; I arrived at midnight on Sunday, then started cleaning the gunwales on Monday for their coat of anti-slip paint. First was the masking tape...
The paddle board comes in handy, albeit precarious... I then fit the shower curtain rail and finished the bathroom sealant:
And a curtain, measured for size:
That evening I did an anti-slip coat on the deck as well, along with a final coat on Tuesday after doing the gunwales:
Both of those have been a long time coming; I cannot wait to not KO myself walking along the gunwales, or on a wet deck.
I was back in London that evening, BUT the boating did not stop: on Thursday I did the radio exam for my Short Range Certificate, and I can now legally use VHF! I wanted it for the upcoming voyage — tidal Severn, maybe tidal Thames — and the other week I ordered a Standard Horizon HX320E (it floats), which will keep me in comms if shit hits the fan, or the coastguard thinks it's a real cannon.
In the exam I lost a few marks on the first question, naming the alert and voice call you'd make for 3 different scenarios. For a windsurfer hit in the head and floating face-down I incorrectly wrote distress alert + mayday, when it should have only been "mayday relay" — you shouldn't send distress alerts or "mayday"'s on behalf of others; only for yourself, your crew or your vessel. But otherwise nailed it.
Also while studying for it I felt the pull — that desire to keep going down the radio track. A few years ago I passed a house on the canal surrounded by antennas, and I get it, I've seen the entrance to the rabbit hole and part of me now understands, well why wouldn't I acquire a small parcel of land and fit an absurdly large antenna on it? Or what if I stuck a 10m antenna on the boat..?
I then got my Ships Portable Radio Licence from Ofcom (it's free), and the license to operate is on its way from the RYA.
Until next Sunday!
- Nick