A struggle to get up and going in the freezing cold breeze from the Arctic and, after giving Debbie a lift to the bus stop, I drove Wroxham and Barnes to start working on the Paxton Princess. The river was frozen and the frost was thick and dampness hampering my work on the rubbing strakes, but I removed the bathing platform slats to take home.
Some time measuring the hull whilst it was out of the water before driving back to sand and coat the slats before a well-earned and warming bath! The Tories are cock-a-hoop because their recent attacks on Labour taxation plans have led to them winning a marginal lead on the see-saw of opinion polls
A little later up as a concession to my physical well-being. These very early sessions in freezing weather are quite intolerable even though there comes some satisfaction from achieving things. Breakfast with the family and then I left for Norfolk around 8.20am, in time to give Debbie a lift to the bus stop as the weather was really very cold. Not much breeze - just cold air from the Arctic. My journey went well but I took my time in view of the conditions, arriving in Wroxham around two hours later. The frost was still very thick and so I thought that I would do my shopping and have something to eat and drink first before working through to dusk and my departure.
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Got some 120 grade glass-paper and some Teak Oil from Jeckells and then coffee and the £1.99 Cornish Pastie from the cafe and then I had run out of excuses not to get on with the boat. Barnes Boatyard was strangely still and quiet except for the surges of the calm river that sent all the ice creaking against the boats and the occasional crash as a duck fell through it! At least the sun was up and the port side of the Paxton Princess had thawed out with water dripping downwards. The work that I had wanted to do on the starboard rubbing strakes had to be delayed until the frost thawed and then dried out. I was going to prepare and paint the bathing platform in situ, but the water was dripping down on it and so I made the decision to remove the planks and eventually managed it. The job of getting the screws out was made the more difficult by the way in which the bolt ends had been cut off, fouling the nuts and the resulting strain left my right palm sore with the effort.
I could strip all of the varnish off of the rubbing strakes and sand them down, but still the starboard side was damp. I could only scrape and sand it down, hoping that this would drive out and soak up most of it, and then used a near 50% varnish/white spirit solution to soak into it and do the rest. The last hour was spent measuring the length and draft with the boat high and dry and I could reckon that the Paxton Princess was 40ft 8ins long overall, but 38ft 4ins including the bathing platform if the davits were folded inwards. The draft was less than I had previously allowed - 2ft 6ins aft and 2ft 2ins forward in average load - and this is very good for a craft of that displacement.
Packed up and home as dusk fell and then home at 7.00pm for some tea. I went out to the garage after tea to sand down the bathing platform slats and then brought them into the utility room and coated them with teak oil. I took another bath tonight afterwards which I find an agreeable way of relaxing to temper the aches and pains of a day's effort and the flush of being inside after being out in the cold. The "phoney election" continues with both major parties hammering away at each other and my own trying to squeeze in a contribution edgeways. The Tories are cock-a-hoop because their recent attacks on Labour taxation plans have led to them winning a marginal lead on the see-saw of opinion polls. The weather turned milder as I drove home with rain falling overnight, but more cold and clear weather is forecast for the next couple of days.