Narrowboat Alacrity

I thought that I would have finished by now but its all the small fiddley things that take the time. Work tends to get in the way as usual. The weather has been so bad that I’m having to cut most of the plywood in the galley area……..lots of mess…..

So what am I left with to do…………well there is two sets of cupboard doors to hang, the brackets for the folding chairs to make and fit, loads of sanding and varnishing and the tv surround and shelves to make and fit (those can wait……..) I will sand and varnish while we are on holiday.

I have been watching a boy fishing on the next pontoon in the marina, he hauled out a reasonable sized perch and on his next cast pulled out a very large and angry crayfish……..his mum said it was destined for a sandwich………………………

As I was carrying some timber back to the landrover I spotted NB Debdale passing under Butchers Bridge……..so only one weekend left before our holiday………………and an engine service to do………. 

Well after the trials and tribulations of yesterday I decided to return the Netgear Storage unit “Wrong”. The shop that used to open Sunday mornings doesn’t now. Never mind I may have calmed down a bit when I take it back tomorrow.

Well I thought while I’m out I might aswell call in to Halfords for some firegum to fix the small exhaust leak (That the mot man pointed out) on the other love of my life my Landrover.

When I got underneath (between showers) and took a better look, yes there was a small leak, but the rest of the down pipe was like a piece of lace along the welded seam……..”Bugger”………. it’ll take more than firegum to fix that……..Get a new one I hear you say……..Not on a Sunday….

Twenty minutes later and a set of bloodied knuckles the downpipe was off with only a little application of the gas axe. In the vice with it and grind out the rusty seam. It wasn’t just the seam that was rusty so were my welding skills I realised that it must have been a year since I’d done any gas welding but hey hum its like riding a bike you never totally forget, but there again I Can’t ride a bike…..

It took me about an hour to re-weld the seam and the flange on the end, not a bad job done, even tho’ I say so myself.

There’s one thing about Landrovers there is so much ground clearance that re-fitting the exhaust was easy… and it didn’t leak.

I rewarded myself with a can of Bass………………………….heaven…………………………