We have hyperdrive, captain

Hello! A week for my ages, it's been just delightful — helping hands on the boat, 30th birthday party on Saturday, the S&P is up, and the sun's been out.

It started on Monday, like all correctly-indexed weeks do, with more panelling and my jet-lagged cousins joining me for more stove dismantling, which Charlie successfully split into pieces with some carbide burrs — the same ones I used to fix the sheared bolt for the engine's water pump !

I also traipsed around to find materials for a composting toilet (mainly a sheet of birch ply, because pretty), which I built on Tuesday. The chemical ones are kinda gross, and these are versatile.

A throne! It's glorious, and I routed the edges, sealed it with Osmo Polyx Oil, and used a little kit from Trobolo for the components.

The week continued hot on gunwale boards and panelling, with Charlie and Agata doing stellar work on the rest of the ceiling and wall at the stern, on the starboard side.

Then on Thursday I picked up the new solar battery from Fogstar , which is huge. A temporary table and some jerry-rigging later, there was power!

We have hyperdrive, captain.

I could then power the water system, instantly revealing my leaky shower... but not long after with that fixed I pressurised it and for the first time, running water! It's a big quality-of-life jump from awkwardly washing your hands with a bottle or brushing your teeth from a mug (camping-style), to mains-pressure water on tap. This place is showing signs of something normal, and the glimmer of home is brightening.

It was then clearing and cleaning, getting everything ready for celebrating my 30th, a highlight of which was reversing Katona 200m down the river with my brother at the helm of a mini tugboat / bow thruster (this thing does not steer going backwards).

It's all coming together, and I have a lot of non-boat work next week but I can't wait to keep going. I turn 30 tomorrow, and I'm excited to deal with all the problems past-Nick delegated to my imminently-wiser self.