Cap'n Spack Jarrow
Brownian motion-type musings on barge renovation, life and other bits of flotsam.
Blast Off!
(Quite freaking literally...)
The inside of the barge now looks like a post apocalyptic Narnia if the Snow Queen had a penchant for grey, shattered recycled glass granules. Having hired a big 'sod off' compressor and bought a tonne of glass blasting media...
... a blast pot....
...this week has mostly been spent in a particularly . . .
Breakage...
The work has continued apace, ably assisted by my glamorous assistant Andy, who, in between getting soaked refereeing rugby matches and running his own business, has been helping out where he can. Once again, his impression of the Energiser bunny puts me to shame and I am eternally grateful for his help. In part exchange I have been trying to . . .
Stripping and Grinding...
What ho' shipmates! Just a quick update on the state of Zee. After some impressive 'Energiser Bunny'-esque work from Andy on Saturday I felt I needed to up my game a bit and not be seen as a work-shy ne'er do well. It started first thing on Monday and ended on Tuesday afternoon, with sore thumbs, numb hands and a piece of high . . .
Hard Graft
We have been moored alongside the dry dock for a week now and there has been some progress. Not as much as I would have liked, but then again, isn't that always the case? Wednesday and Thursday were spent mostly in the skipper's cabin. I have moved all the wood out of the cabin and it has been put on pallets and then dropped in the . . .
The Devil's Own Waterway...
We are finally at dry dock. Well, moored up outside the dry dock but we are within a stone's throw of starting probably the biggest (and most expensive) part of the renovation project to date. There were 2 crew who joined me on the trip, Barry and Andy, to whom I extend my sincere thanks for being my eyes and ears (and in Barry's . . .
Tanks for the memories...
So, the pilot is booked for Sunday 8th Oct to lock out of Portishead at 0700 and catch the rising tide which should hopefully whizz us up to Sharpness so we can arrive there at high/slack water allowing us an easier locking in at the top end. I have three willing crew, me and said pilot so we should be in good order.
Since removing . . .
D-Day (again)...
Well, we have a date for moving the barge to Sharpness. I hope to be on the channel somewhere between the 6th and 8th of October. I will once again be missing my club's shooting championships at Bisley but needs must when the devil drives. Just to be clear the devil won't be driving, we will hire a pilot to take us up the channel, . . .
