Katona

A narrowboat rebuild by Nick Goodall.

New Scotia and a new home

8th September 2024

Sunday already?! Golly, after the flurry of woodwork last weekend, it was another of those “have fun programming” weeks.

Buuut on Thursday my new mattress arrived; 4 inches of Reflex Superior™ foam with a 2 inch memory foam layer on top, super king. It’s a rectangle I need to fit in triangular space, so I’ll need a dab hand with a sharp knife. And frankly it’s still wrapped, clean in plastic while I procrastinate on the next job: wood trim.

The edges and corners needed something for a tidy and to cover the gaps, so I’ve gone with a Scotia beading:

scotia-moulding.jpeg

B&Q’s finest pine, and I wanted these in before varnishing. Also the lights depend on them — I have a different moulding designed for skirting boards with a little “cove” for the LED strips, which I’ll run just below the ceiling and gunwale. You can see the hole for the wire below the corner above, expertly drilled from the other side.

It’s been another one of those “Pfft, just an afternoon” jobs which I completely mis-judged; there are 3-way mitre joins everywhere, and at weird angles — this isn’t a square box with neat 90° corners.

Finally, I decided that I’m moving off the boat. Waking up one cold morning in my sleeping bag, for the 8th week in a row, I was overcome by a deep sense of “fuck this”. At first I was planning to find an apartment or house-share nearby, but then on Saturday my neighbours knocked to offer me their boat(!!!).

Travelling from mid-October until early June, initially they planned for friends to look after their cat and turn the heating on each week, but then they discovered I was available on the vaga-bond market. One of those true win-wins: they’re happy their boat sees life with a loved cat and thriving plants; I get a cosy home with my workshop 30 seconds away, one pontoon over.

It’s gonna be a hot guy winter.

Until then I shall wander: house-sitting, Airbnb’ing and a little travelling. After I had the thought and started dreaming about hot running water, a warm bed and sawdust-free clothes, it was game over. Tonight is my last sleep on this dusty floor, and I’m so excited for tomorrow.

Until next Sunday!

- Nick

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