Cap'n Spack Jarrow
Brownian motion-type musings on barge renovation, life and other bits of flotsam.
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, . . .
Just a quick update...
Hello shipmates, it has been too long since I have darkened the hallowed halls of my blog with the rantings of a barge obsessed idiot, so I thought just a quick note to let you know the current state of play and what I have been up to.
As some of you may be aware, I have been training as gyrocopter instructor for the last 6 months . . .
D-Day Planning...
The next big event is dry dock. This is no small undertaking, both financially and in terms of the logistics and planning which go into it. The Bristol channel is a harsh environment for a barge with limited power and a skipper with limited ability. It is for this reason that we will be hiring a pilot to take us up the channel. Apparently . . .
Damn and Ballast!
(see what I did there?...)
Well, the weather has been warm which means working in the barge is uncomfortable at best. Especially if you are foolhardy enough to start welding. The steel roof of the barge 'pops' when you walk over it so I have purchased some 50x50x5mm angle steel to weld to the steel roof in order to add a little rigidity. Long term the roof will . . .
Fools rush in...
(Or more generally, why procrastination is a good thing)
When undertaking a mammoth endeavour such as Zee it would be great to be able to decide in the first few weeks where everything would fit, what the floorplan would be, what services are required and where and then being able to make the necessary budget and project plan with a definitive flow and end date. That would be 'amazeballs' . . .
Skipper's Cabin
The destruction in the skipper's cabin continues apace. Although not a priority for us as we will be doing the cargo hold first it will be necessary to strip it all back in order to shot blast the inside of the cabin. Additionally there are areas of the steel floor which have completely given way and I suspect (without a crystal ball or . . .
"It's getting hot in here..."
As the famed rapper Nelly was heard to utter in his 2002 classic, although contrary to his direction will not be 'taking off all my clothes'. Health and safety and all that... Plus I might scare the horses.
Whilst everyone has been basking in the tropical weather I have been descending into the bowels of a large steel vessel . . .
