The blacking part is all finished, so today we painted a bit more of the extended cratch. Caxton started off as a 63' boat but was stretched to 68' ... the stretch was done at the bow section, so now we have rather a large cratch!!
Numerous boaters have 'cratch envy' when the see the size of her.......cratch!
I also refitted the bow and stern buttons/fenders, re-fitted the fairleads with rubber underneath them to hopefully stop future rusting and, finally, refitted the eyelets that secure the bow rope fender.
We popped out at lunch time to get some bits and pieces and ended up having lunch and a pint at 'Frankie and Benny's'. We are not normally into this type of restaurant, but it was in the right spot and we were hungry, so we gave it a go! It was probably the best burger I have ever had and Elaine's veggie burger was right up there as well. Apparently they are a chain so we will look out for them again on our travels; it was reasonably priced too !
I mentioned yesterday the concertina poly tunnel, well today it was a godsend - without it we would have been buggered as it has pissed down all day!
If you were painting the complete boat you would have to wheel it along as you go, but as it is aluminium construction its no big deal.
Another good day! We will just do a general clean and tidy up tomorrow and then that's it ... easy peasy! We don't go back in the water till Sunday morning so we can kick back and relax a bit.
The cost of doing-it-yourself blacking on a 68ft boat for those interested....
Hire of hardstand area for 7 days including slipping out and slipping back plus use of high pressure water blaster ... £250.00
20 litres of International intertuf 16 Blacking ... £125.00
Brushes, roller,.s masking tape etc ... £25.00 approx
Paint for tunnel bands ... £20.00 approx
Labour...Priceless!
Total £420.00, or thereabouts !
We have really enjoyed doing it ourselves, with the added bonus that we carried on living on the boat with free electric hook up and water tap right next to the boat ... oh and a bar on site!!
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