Well after having being thoroughly examined Alacrity passed her BSS examination……………..I didn’t think that she would fail but …..there could allways be something.

As I have changed around the battery connections to balance the heavy draw from the inverter I found that the lids covering the batteries don’t fit, yet another thing to do for the BSS.

So new lids have been made and a new box to house the two extra batteries. You need to be a contortionist to get at Alacrity’s batteries as when I have to top them up. I still haven’t modified the cupboard above them, that’s another job.

 So fitting the lids and extra battery box was to say the least a trial well that’s now done and all is ready for the BSS.

Well you’ve heard of the joke about the gynecologist who decorated his hallway through the letterbox, that’s just how I felt when I decided to repaint Alacrity’s gas locker.
Alacrity’s Boat Safety Examination is coming up soon and I noticed that one of the things they were looking at were rusty floors in gas lockers because there may be pinholes in the plating allowing LPG to get into the bilges with possible dire results.

The floor in the locker was sound and just needed the loose rust sweeping out. I painted the cleaned floor with Kurust then two coats of International primer and then the whole locker with two coats of Danboline.

I was lucky that it was a hot day the Kurust dried converting the rust and leaving a great base for the primer, but it was a killer trying to reach in and paint. I used two paint brushes taped onto lengths of dowell to reach the corners and with my head and one arm in squeezed in the hatch managed to get a great finish despite a headache due to the fumes.

I even managed to get in a bit of fishing (I didn’t catch anything) while I waited for the paint to dry !!! 

Im going to fit some Dri-Dek Tiles to stop the gas cylinders resting directly on the locker bottom so hopefully keeping it rust free for the future.

Its that time again, Waiting for me on the door mat when I got home was my licence renewal form from BW, always a welcome sight  Not.

Included was a notice telling me that I needed to renew my Boat Safety Certificate, minor panic ensued for a few moments while I located the last inspections paperwork. Since nothing has changed hopefully all I need to do is check that there are no obvious faults.

What I did notice was the warning that late payment now gets hit with a penalty of £150 OUCH !!!