Doors, Worktops...Bits and Bobs

-
It's been a busy few days. Although it would seem that not a lot has been done aboard the boat. That's the funny thing though...be it a boat or a house, bungalow or apartment, the smaller jobs are always the jobs that take the longest. They're also usually the messiest and frustrating!

I finally managed to get a final coat of varnish on the front bow doors yesterday. I'd done 3 coats in danish oil and the final coat had dried grainy - a quick sand and wipe over with white spirit and I decided to do a final "top coat" using an outdoor varnish - at least I knew that it wouldn't dry grainy, gritty and white again. Ideally, I suppose I should have completely sanded them back and re-done them in the varnish alone, or I should at least do another coat of varnish, but I think they should be fine and have enough protection. Next year I will completely strip them and re-varnish.

Just the masking tape to remove and white spirit the windows to clean up...







Of course, the other job was to seal the sink in the kitchen after the granite worktop was put in. I ended up doing it today, finally!! It only took me a week to do, but at least its done now!

I have a new trick for a mess-free way to put on a perfect bead of silicone too - mask up!

Apply masking tape on either side of whatever you're planning to apply silicone to:










Apply the bead of silicone, followed by dipping a finger into white spirit and spreading across to smooth it over:

(Have lunch in-between masking up and applying silicone - leave dirty pots in sink. After all you can't wash up and risk splashing the silicone!!)




Finished!



Other jobs coming up include measuring up for acrylic sheeting so I can "double glaze" the windows for this winter and Rob should be coming back soon hopefully (our joiner) to fit some new porthole liners and a new bedframe.

I also want to re-varnish the side-hatch doors ready for winter and paint the internal cabin doors. I'm thinking of painting them in cream satin, as the doors look a bit dark and dated and I think it would brighten the place up a bit and make it look a bit more modern - we'll see...Maybe I'll lose momentum before I get to that!

Comments

Post a Comment

TO POST A COMMENT, SIMPLY TYPE YOUR MESSAGE IN THE COMMENTS BOX BELOW (IT MIGHT BE ABOVE THIS MESSAGE DEPENDING ON HOW YOUR BROWSER DISPLAYS THINGS!)

THEN, SELECT "ANONYMOUS" FROM THE DROP DOWN MENU BELOW THAT AS THAT IS THE EASIEST WAY TO SAY HI TO ME!

DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE YOUR NAME ;)

Popular posts from this blog

Where Can I Begin?

-
Image
It's been nearly 9 months since I last blogged and I can't actually believe it's been that long - feels like it was just a few weeks ago really. At this stage then, I'm not sure if there'll be any readers out there, but I suppose if I want to carry on chronicling life on the boat, I need to make a start somewhere! I think the reason for the lack of blogging is, in part, because I was boring myself (never mind anyone else that reads it!) and it was starting to feel a bit too personal. I seemed to be detailing my life over the internet for anyone to read and I suppose in some ways, I was starting to get a little uncomfortable with that. However, that's what blogging is, I know! It's a diary of sorts, which is obviously only one 'facet-of-a-diamond' in terms of "our life", but still somewhat a diary and not what I initially thought would be just a way of referencing what we had done or had fitted (etc) in the boat. I have missed blogging somet...
Read more

Make use of time, let not advantage slip - William Shakespeare

-
Image
Even on Boxing Day we manage to find time to do some "boaty" jobs! We basically finished off the wiring-in of the new small inverter that we've fitted on a 12v cigarette socket directly to the batteries for the TV and aerial. We still had the thick cable hanging down the wall to the sockets which looked a bit of an eyesore and I couldn't bear it any more! It all looks neat and tidy now and we've really noticed an improvement with the battery capacity. With everything we usually have on, using the main inverter was taking around 10-13% out of the batteries an hour, which was way too much! With this new inverter we are only using around 3 or 4% an hour which means a lot less engine running time ! It's fantastic. I think this also shows that it WAS the main inverter that was using the battery capacity and the batteries aren't knackered after all! So if there's any people out there who are planning on getting a new inverter or are fitting a boat out etc, D...
Read more

A Little Bit Better...

-
Image
Yes, we're feeling a little bit more positive about it all today and we've even been cracking a joke or two about it all as well. Today, we didn't get up until late - nearly 11, despite planning an early start to run the engine beforehand to charge up the batteries so we could let it cool enough to work on and fix the exhaust. It left us a bit short of time, but we definitely needed the lie in- with everything going on, it's just drained us - plus I didn't sleep that well last night either due to the local party scene outside!! We had a bit of breakfast/lunch and then Pawel set off on attempting to apply the gum to the exhaust. Here's how it was looking: It's a bit awkward to get to as well as it's the top of the silencer, so it has broken away right on the opposite side to where you can get to - nearly against the side wall of the hull. Poor Pav! He had a little hand held mirror and a torch to help and applied it as best he could. It d...
Read more