There are many things where in order to do the thing, you spend a lot of time doing another thing in prep for the main thing. Painting is like this, just like welding, or sales. Eventually you need to pick up the phone, or a brush, yet this week I spent a lot of time on prep.
But first thing, the dry dock! It was finally free, and I booked it for 8 days from Saturday the 25th (yesterday, as of writing).
Second thing, roof colours: I flicked through my new RAL swatch and decided on 7047 with hints of 7046, two of the telegreys. Inoffensive and easy to match, as I don’t yet know what main colour to go for. Green, orange, yellow, purple!?
After that I whacked, cut and ground out the old throttle pillar to clean it up:
…before welding on a new plate:
…and then welding the pillar back in place:
And then I got a super exciting email: “Order 3035106726154794 has shipped” — the portholes are en route! With FedEx!
On Saturday it was time to leave, and the boatyard and Katona parted ways:
(I’m tempted to get a flag for the boat… maybe an ensign?)
A friend of mine then joined and we fought our way upstream against the current, stopping for a G&T at a pub on the river. A few locks later, docking!
A mostly dry dock — the river’s a little high after the rain, so ~a foot of water comes back through the exit gate.
Sunday morning I came back to weld the previously-unreachable side of the throttle pillar, then take out the tiller and rudder before sanding back the roof.
It happens every time, I think “pfft, sanding, in a jiffy” then 8 hours later I look behind and there’s just so much roof to go.
Counting down the meters, it’s a summer for the boys.
It feels great taking back the old paint to bare steel, but as you go it’s a delicate balance between “this is so satisfying” and “this fucking sucks. fuck this.”
Reminded me of this meme:
Until next Sunday!
- Nick
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