This visit was bound to be a particularly memorable one as it was the first time I planned to stay on the boat overnight. I brought a small electric heater that British Gas had kindly donated to me and my flatmate when they cut off our gas supply for a few days..
When Emma and I arrived at the boat we were confronted with the usual interior pond a sight that usually indicates luxury, but in a boat it indicates problems. I tried to start the engine but to no avail.. Luckily, there was still some juice left in the house battery so I was able to start the electric bilge pump and get rid of the water.. nevertheless the boat was very wet. Emma tried to convince me to stay at a nearby inn but I was determined to sleep in the boat. The electric heater did a marvelous job to keep us warm and I think we had a cosy good night's sleep, with the occasional drop of water only marginally annoying us.
I had also brought with me a drill and a sander and was prepared to do some work on the boat. Previously I had been reading all about fiberglassing and repairing chainplates and bulkheads. Anyway to cut a long story short, I did not get around to doing much that weekend, partly because of lack of tools (saw) and partly due to the fact that I did not know what to do. The only useful thing I managed to do was to drill a hole on the cabin floor so that I could lift the planks and gain access to the bilge. Bob from the cafe came along to offer some advice on what needed to be done. He suggested I wait until the summer to do the work but I did not like that idea very much as I wanted to get Ting-a-Ling ready for sailing as soon as possible.
Before we left on the Sunday, I managed to find an old piece of tarpaulin which I used to cover part of the coach roof.
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