Me

There are not that many pictures of me about.

Mostly I'm the one behind the lens, photographing other people or things.

When Andy photographed the little steamboat, he also snapped me while I was manoeuvring Willcarry 1, my platform, about with the well used looking Old Sow.

That work platform has been so incredibly useful...

Little steamboat

Now here's something unusual (picture taken by Andy as I was busy elsewhere at the time).

Not long ago Tugster included some pictures of steam boats in his blog (you need to scroll down a bit), I never expected that just a few weeks later I'd see one on the Itchen, but there it is.

I'll bet there's hours and hours of tender loving care gone into that.

Cable trays

The fact that I'm posting a picture of a cable tray is a sure fire way of telling that Andy has been down for another visit.

This particular tray has now been installed in the fish hold and although not finished, due to a shortage of trays, is work that was desperately needed.

This is a job that's been getting more and more pressing each time something is dropped down into the hold from the deck above, catching the dangling cables on it's way.

Andy did double duty over the weekend, also giving us an interesting and entertaining slideshow on his Antarctic exploits a few years ago.

Lilagina leak

The wooden boat in front of Lady Jane there is Lilagina. She is, obviously, quite old.

Anyway, she has been pretty much neglected these past years and recently her owner was called, informing him she was starting to sink.

Graham, her owner, had apparently pumped out about 10 tonnes of water and had to keep pumping to stay ahead of the leak she seems to have sprung.

The last time I saw Graham, he told me he had pushed a wad of sawdust from the seaward side into the area where the leak was, using a broom handle and a rolled up carpet full of the stuff.

Apparently, the sawdust gets pulled into the leak with the water flowing into the boat, catches, expands and stops the leak.

That sounds just so amazing to me.

While I'd rather not have a wooden boat with a leak in the first place, knowing something as simple as that could make all the difference while arrangements for a more permanent repair are made.

Wagner Electronic Spray Gun

I intend to do as much painting on Lady Jane as I can over the summer.

Last summer was pretty much a write off when it came to painting outside, so this year I plan to try to make up for that.

The recent activity in replacing the steel plate astern has reminded me of just how good that primer looked when it was spray painted on, in comparison to using a roller, and certainly a brush.

Most of the painting I do on board at the moment is with mini rollers, purely for the convenience of it.

While looking for something else I discovered this Wagner electronic spray gun, which seems quite appealing as I don't have to mess about with compressors or 'big' power to get spray painting done.

The issue I have with compressors right now is that of three I have on board, the small one, which doesn't really have enough puff to spray anyway, has a problem with the pressure switch, the one I bought on eBay is still in pieces and I don't want to use the boat compressor if I can avoid it, as it's crucial for starting the main engine.

So far as I can see, the only downside is the weight - using a 'normal' spray gun gets tiring after a while, so that thing would wear a guy out in half the time!

Anyone else have experience or opinions on this?

Red primer

That red primer really stands out.

As well as priming the new steel plate, the area below has also been touched up.

Even looking like a patchwork quilt, the paint really makes that repair disappear into the background.

It won't be long and the stern will be blue again, hiding almost all evidence of the Humber Star's little 'excursion'.

Next will be to get a bit of long overdue artwork done - painting 'Lady Jane, Southampton' on the stern.

Another boat project

Here's another boat project, just arrived, going on near me.

To give you an idea of the scale, look at the car on the bow, and the yacht towards the stern.

I know nothing about the boat, or the people, just yet. But no doubt will get to know more as the months progress.

I look at that and think about how I felt when I first got Lady Jane - come the 24th of this month, it will be five years.