Saturday 31 January 2015

Replacing stove door glass

Having your own boat is quite a learning curve!

Latest challenge was cracked glass on stove door. Bolts holding it in place sheared off when tried to undo them...

A little light Googling showed this to be a common problem. Managed to drill out the existing bolts and replace with new ones. Didn't try to tap holes, just went for through bolts which seem to work OK. Put a little stove rope like washers to stop the nuts grinding directly on the glass inside.

 While Googling, did discover a source of replacement doors which are not too expensive if needed in future. Better stove design where door hinges sideways rather than down would probably be useful to avoid danger of dropping coal on glass! Something to look for in boat II.

Saturday 24 January 2015

Fitting new curtain rods and spice racks

For some reason all of the curtains on board had nice solid brass rods at the bottom to keep them from flapping but rather flimsy telescopic plastic/metal ones at the top.

Result was that whenever you tried to open the curtains, if you didn't hold the pole together with the other hand, the pole would fall apart.

Now with some solid brass end and middle posts from http://marinestore.co.uk/ and brass poles from https://www.limekilnchandlers.co.uk/ we have a full set of sturdy curtain rails.

Andrew spent Friday and Saturday nights on-board to do the work. During the same trip, he fitted some small spice racks that Alison had found online. They fit perfectly at the end of the plate rack in the galley and are very convenient for cooking. Great use of the space!

Friday 2 January 2015

New Year on our boat

Nice quiet New Year's Eve on the boat avoiding another party back at home.

Think we managed to stay up till midnight, just...