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Friday 12 July 2013

The Big Easy.

I remained undisturbed this morning so actually slept through until 0630 for a change. First thing I sat out in the early sun before it got too hot and read a new book for a bit. I got a bit red just in time to come in and put Test Match Special on. The days drama at Trent Bridge was not quite so frenetic as the last couple of days but non the less gripping. Tomorrow should be another good day of cricket.

Late in the afternoon I rubbed down some rust sots and scratches. I coat them with anti rust stuff and later I went round touching up with top coat. Holderness has a green as a base colour. I'm not sure what is the probelm but this green seems to rub off on a cloth or sponge, and has no gloss at all. The red and cream are fine though. I have contacted the maker of the paint Hempels/Blakes to see if they can identify the problem and suggest a remedy. The problem is that they have discontinued the paint colour and at £20 a 500ml tin it would be prohibitive to repaint any way. I have had no reply as yet. I suspect that a paint job should last between 5 and 7 years, depending on how much care you take with it. I'm not really a car washer/polisher really so say 5 years. I'm not sure but would suspect a full paint job would cost up to £7000 with the preparation etc. When I was at sea in the early days we used to paint the whole ship on the way home from the Far East, masts, derricks, funnels accommodation etc etc. They looked brand new when they arrived back home. On the way outward we used to overhaul everything on deck too. Mind you we had big crews in those days. There was a hierarchy in the painting though. The top man got the black deck with a 6" roller at the end. We apprentices got the job of 'cutting in', that is painting the straight line in where the deck clour met the bulwark or accommodation colour, and the bits that a roller can't reach. It meant a lot of grovelling on the deck and back ache. Mind you there was a great satisfaction for everybody when it was finished, especially the Mate. My dabbings with a kids paint brush was also quite satisfying too. I do recommend stopping the rot after a scratch with some rust preventer though, and then you can touch up with gloss as a batch.


Sister ship to one I sailed on and painted.

A little while ago there was a knock on the side hatch and a bloke asked me for a drink of water. We looked close to fainting. He was on his bike and had cycled from Southport to Wigan and was on his way back. He had been to see his girlfriend but she was out! He wasn't the brightest chap but you have to be dedicated to cycle 5 hours to see your girl friend. I asked him about this and he told me he couldn't afford the £8-20 return rail fare, and that when he got there his girl friend was out! Her phone was broken so he couldn't call her before setting out.

The cycling at the Olympics and Tour de France certainly seems to have increased the cycle traffic on this tow path, and most others. It would be good if you could get a Fiver a year out of them as that would put loads more money in to the pot of Canal and Rivers Trust to maintain the canals and tow path.

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