life on the slip
Time on the slip is expensive: each day is charged so any delays swiftly dig into the budget. So it is douly frustrating when the weather hinders progres as it did this year. I think in total about 3 days were lost as the painters went home early when the water ran down the side of the boat.
The hours the yard boys turn in are fairly impressive: work starts with a bang at 8am sharp and there will usually still be someone banging about at 9pm that night. It is a good time to put some hours in myself: I usually stay on the boat so evenings are spent picking away at all those litte jobs that get left ’till a rainy day.
An hour spent doing emails and a bit of mucking around on the computer and then it’s usually time for bed.
I quite like the solitude of the evenings: the job by nature is generally gregarious so time spent alone and left to thoughts can be rare. However, a week is normally enough before cabin fever sets in!
When the small details start to appear on the hull it usually signals that time for the water is near.
This is now the home run and each evening sees a new routine added: the walk to the harbour mouth to see what the sea is doing in preperation for the run home. Will that swell die and give me a smooth run north, or will it build and give the boat a hammering…
