Sorry to have been a tease on Thursday. It was a long day, and I was too knackered to post but the briefest little note, and the signal here is very poor so I didn't dare try a photo. But it was wonderful, everything went without a hitch, and Chertsey is now safely at Stretton. I'll write up a full account of the day, with pictures, once I get home. The plan is to go home on Monday, as tomorrow we are going to go to the Black Country Museum, which we have so far not visited, and this is the weekend of the working boat gathering there, which seems an opportunity not to be missed. So I shall have lots to write about when I do get back to a decent internet connection.
But tonight, I am spending my first night on Chertsey. I have given the cabin a good clean (not too hard as Dave and Izzy had already done a fantastic job) and sort out, picking out the treasures (brass screws and, ahem, gun oil) from the chaff (e.g. a gallon paint tin FULL of rusty screws). Jim spent part of today scooping all the mud out of the hold - mostly made of rotten leaves, I think - so that now it can finally dry out completely. I know I'm telling all this in the wrong order; yesterday we arranged all the engine bits etc on pallets at the front end (the water runs to the back) and covered them up with a tarpaulin, having decidet this would probably work better than trying to cover the whole hold - although we have put the mast, cross planks and stands in and very handsome it looks. So the hold is now all clean and dry too. The engine room was never really anything but clean and dry - but that will have to be another story.
So, back to tonight, here I sit by the light of the Tilley lamp, which I successfully lit at the first attempt tonight, sitting on my new mattress, with a fitting home at last for my crocheted blanket and 50s bedspread. And today in the wonderful antique shop in Brewood we found another Tilley lamp, an older, all brass one, which we bought with confidence knowing that we will be able to get any necessary spares.
So, shortly I shall turn out the lamp, and tuck myself under my blankets, and bid you goodnight.
6 comments:
Hey Sarah, Ive said it before and I have no doubt I will say it again but I am so jealous yet at the same time pleased Chertsey has found such a wonderful and caring owner and the knowledge you like her "in the raw" makes it all the better. I hope you have many many years happy boating together and the old girl makes her way to BCLM under her own steam one of these days....and the boat of course. ;-)
what a lovely post. ;)
Also, I realise how rare it is [for me] to see a cross bed folded down and made up - looks cosy. I had a poke around 'Roger' a couple of weekends ago and the cross bed was 3'3" wide how generous is Chertsey's?
Night Sarah :)
I don't get any better than taking your very own 'woolie' home
;-)
Only a lttle bit jealous
PJ
Brilliant. It looks very snug.
Now all it needs (Well, figure of speech, it's a boat- of course there's a LOT more than that to do!) is Mr. Grainer himself, and some swags of roses and castles!
Thank you all... Chertsey's cross bed is 3'1" x 6'0. Perfect for a little one like me! The cabin is interesting - I'll do a dedicated post about it soon.
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