Katona

28 weeks later, I made it!

Katona is permanently moored for the first time in a year, what a trip.

I spent a few evenings hopping up the river, reaching Stratford on Wednesday. I called a taxi to get back to the car — Tom’s taxis, in Bidford — and told him where I was… “Is this the same guy that called yesterday?” he asked. “Haha yes, yes it is” I said, and Tom responded “Nick!! I’ll be there in about 10 minutes.”

Let’s ignore the front window, but from afar looking rather spiffy.

Then, back to work: on Saturday I took the boat just outside to finish sanding the handrails (“No sanding in the marina” I was told, which… fair enough), but luckily it was close enough to run an extension cable. 8 hours later I trudged back in, filthy and exhausted, and I still hadn’t sanded the hatch.

Another day, another barrel of energy I returned this Sunday morning to finish it off, hoping to start on the portholes by evening. But with the all the prep work — finishing the hatch, removing the overnight rust spots and cleaning the surface — by the time I put down the brush I couldn’t believe it was 8pm.

And yet, progress is sweet.

Maybe I’ll get to the portholes next week, but we have 2 more roof coats to do — that was just the primer.

Until next Sunday!

- Nick