Marvellous news on the saloon roof, at long last and after rain, snow, sleet, heavy rain and severe frosts, we have been able to replace the rotten plywood and fibreglass roof with a brand new one!! It's been one of those week long jobs that has actually taken a month to complete owing to the awful weather.
Many thanks to Mike Rees for coming over from sunny (or should we say snowy/flooded) Somerset to help lay the fibreglass sheathing with good military style. Another visitor of note was a nameless lady from Wales who is also a member of the paddle steamer preservation society. She came on a rather dull day in terms of work to be done and cheered me up immensely with her upbeat and positive attitude. I don't know about anyone else, but there is nothing like the welsh lilt to brighten up y'day!
Work now begins on the hatches and saloon doors to make the whole structure sound and watertight before we start on the long hard job of cleaning the bilges and reinstating the boiler and ancilliaries that make the old girl chug along!
If you're still waiting for the volunteers pub get together, panic not ye olde steam fans, we will get invites out shortly-just as soon as the boat is ready for you to attack with mallets!
Attached to this post are photos of the manky old roof being removed and the brand spanking new roof going on!
Cheery Bye for Now,
The Skip
