Little things

That mean a lot in some cases. Most of the big jobs (for now) are done on Warrior (or is that Famous Last Words?). Still to do is the engine room ceiling, over which Jim has been planning and cogitating for months if not years. Obviously we want to panel it with the nice old T&G salvaged many years ago from the servants' quarters of a house in Seaford, but what with the framing for the panel where the engine goes in and out (although hopefully not again in my lifetime) and the newly acquired biscuit tin, it's a bit tricky. Think he's cracked it now though, meaning that on our next trip up I will be sharing the back seat with a large amount of seven foot lengths of timber (there is no front seat. How else could you get a double bass into a 240 saloon?).

Another long standing task waiting to be done is the building of a box at the forward end of the bed, under the foredeck, to accommodate the water stopcock and the bags of ballast which currently are separated from our pillows by some old cushions and a blanket. It would also give us something to lean against and also to put our tea, should we be daring enough to introduce hot beverages into an area with headroom of approximately two foot three.

But the littlest thing, that would really mean a lot to me but which we still haven't cracked, is some means of closing the doors at either end of the engine room in such as way that they can be opened from both sides. At the moment they have bolts either side, but if you fasten it one side and someone else is on the other they are not, in my experience, best pleased. Especially if it's me. The only solution I have seen widely used is those spring-loaded ball catches, but they do depend upon the door fitting quite closely and aren't very good if there's vibration to cope with, or for a heavy door like the one at the rear between the engine room and the cabin. There doesn't seem to be any equivalent of an ordinary house-type catch, with knobs or handles both sides, for these thin doors. Any ideas? The reason I want to be able to shut the door at the forward end is to keep the heat in the saloon (especially as the engine room is still uninsulated and is at the moment the main entrance/exit); the same goes for the cabin, and also you want to be able to shut yourself in at night, but not to prevent anyone else getting in or through in case of emergency.

Hmm, not bad considering I didn't have anything to write about.

I have bowed to the combination of spellchecker and Concise Oxford and replaced all my forewards with forwards. I am still convinced that the former is the correct spelling of what we pronounce for'ard but it seems I am in a minority of one, sadly. It would be nice to have a different word. By the way, do you know what word apparently has the largest number of different meanings?