The painter's hut, and some bare steel.

Vally P, who lives in the Netherlands, comments yesterday that she can't understand what meerkats have to do with car insurance:-). Every Brit will know, but follow this link Vally and all will be clear (ish).

Now, why I am I showing you this lovely picture of a young Jacob reveling in the joy of camping in our trusty Dandy folding camper?

Because the Dandy is going to be our home while we're painting the boat. Whilst we could stay aboard Herbie at night inside the wet dock we think the paint fumes might get a bit much so it'll be nice to have somewhere else to sleep.

I remembered to take my camera out to the boat today while I was doing a bit more rubbing down.

The mottling on the surface is mostly due to mill scale which has colour but no significant thickness, so the surface is smooth to the touch.

The surface has been treated with Fertan to convert any rust specks to something benign. It goes on a translucent brown, then turns black, and next day you have a black powder to rub or wash off, and the steel is protected. Here, above, you can see the Fertan unwiped at the bottom and wiped at the top. The photo makes the surface look very grainy, but it's not, its just specks of fertan. A very quick go over with a sander to polish them out and everything will be smooth and shiny.