Protecting The Lady with several coats of varnish
Protecting The Lady with several coats of varnish

Another hot day enjoying working on The Lady, collecting prints and visiting boatyards

Each day seems hotter than the last but, at least today, storm clouds brought blessed relief in late afternoon, although the storm passed over without rain. Today, with The Lady’s sliding roof still back, I applied four coats of varnish on the central cabin exterior. Last night I had prepared and scraped the wood and so, in spite of the heat, it was quite easy going. Temperatures must have been close to 90degF by lunchtime when we went to St Neots. 

We collected our framed prints of Tower Bridge and the photograph of the flooded Haylings in November 1974. Also purchased new prints of the old St Neots town bridge and ‘Desiderada.’ I am always sad to see the beautiful old bridge. It was a criminal act that replaced it with the new concrete monstrosity. On to St Ives and LH Jones boatyard for more paint and then we stopped at the Tea Pot in Godmanchester for Crab and Ham Salad lunches, followed by Knickerbocker Glory ice creams for the kids. In the cool of the evening, I polish, varnish and begin the task of wire brushing the front cabin roof to take a coat of deck paint tomorrow. The sky has cleared and the air more comfortable now as I sit on the front of the boat catching up on my journal.