14th July

Sunday 7th July: Whew! After another extremely hard mornings work, sanding and painting we took the afternoon off to watch Andy Murray win Wimbledon in straight sets! Resumed work in the evening, and collapsed into bed covered in dust and paint, completely cream-crackered.

Taylor's Yard  covered dry dock

Monday 8th: We remained in the dock to finish the main bulk of the paintwork.Vincent Joseph is now green!!

Change of image

In the evening we went out to see the 'Mystery Plays' at Chester Cathedral. A spectacular production, only performed every 5 years,with a huge cast of locals, but sadly we were both so tired from our painting exploits we had to leave at the interval!

Tuesday 9th; Out from the shelter of the covered dock into the sweltering heat. Frantic tidy up in the morning before Ann and Colin arrived by train at lunchtime - we see them all too seldom, since New Zealand is a bit far for a casual drop-in.

With Ann and Colin - bloated at Bunbury

After lunch we went on a cruise towards Ellesmere Port and stopped overnight at Stoak. Enjoyed a splendid meal at the Bunbury Arms.

Wednesday 10th: Meandered back to Chester fighting the mud and weed all the way, with a couple of unscheduled stops to untangle yards of tenacious greenery from the propeller.

Ann at the tiller

 In the afternoon drove Ann and Colin back down to Leamington. Stayed overnight at the Wharf Inn, Fenny Compton.

Thursday 11th: Spent the day looking for possible winter moorings on the Grand Union or Oxford canal. Largely unsuccessful so looks likely we will have a Canal and River Trust (CRT) winter mooring. Had a meal at the Wharf with Jen, Rich and Joseph and Sam.

Friday 12th: Drove back to Chester and painted the gunwales in the evening unhindered by Benny who was still at the cattery.

Saturday 13th: Maxine the signwriter arrived at 11.00 am to start painting the name on the boat.

Signwriting : name chalked out

The finished result

Painting in the noonday sun

Sun 14th Signwriting finished by evening, and looks excellent. We completed a few other minor bits of painting - the boat is pretty much finished now, but we need to paint a line along the top in red at some point when we can summon the energy. Meanwhile, we're preparing to leave Chester tomorrow. It's a beautiful city, but we've spent most of our time with our noses 2 inches from hot metal, applying paint to the boat