A bit of progress and an upcoming event

 We eventually got all the black Fertan streaks off the side of the boat (that was a couple of hours work I hadn't planned for) and at last I was able to bring out the paintbrush and a tin of Hammerite No1 Rustbeater and painted the top of the handrail. That was a quick job and felt good.  The surface is still pitted but it'll have a wooden rail glued and screwed on top of it so that doesn't matter.

You'll no doubt notice the scruffy band of red paint on the left hand side just below. We've rubbed that down ready for a fresh coat of red paint which will also be what we paint the wooden rails with.

Today I thoroughly cleaned the bits of roof I had sanded back and painted those bits too. Tomorrow, hopefully I'll paint a wide border along the front half of roof edge.  I quite like this hammerite paint, it goes on nicely and it is supposed to convert underlying rust although I hope I've got rid of 99% of it.

Another job is to replace the two rainwater divertors which stop the runoff from the roof reaching the rear deck. 

These cunning devices were put in place by Roy, Herbie's previous owner.  Roy didn't like metalwork so he made them out of wood and now they're past their sell by date.  I'm planning to make new ones out of aluminium angle which I will attempt to elegantly shape.  And there's more.  Tomorrow I hope to replace the beading on the cratch window and repaint the beam beneath.

It might turn out to be Sunday when I do it actually because tomorrow is the marina's Open Day with stalls and food, live music and (real) beer, so we hope to spend an hour or two showing our support.  I think the idea is to attract new moorers. I've no idea how many they hope will show up.

There is masses more to do but it feels good to have made a start. We'll be heading home after the weekend and I may well sit in the garden and watch the grass grow.  

Tonight we treated ourselves to a meal at the Old Auctioneer in Banbury. They do brilliant steak fajitas although they're not cheap when you add £6.80 (I know!) for a pint on Neck Oil and then add 10% service charge on top. Having said that, I doubt you'll get better anywhere.