Petestack Blog

Not much to see here, but winter Fly work continues…

A fortnight ago, worn down by weeks of long phone calls trying to resolve luckless issues with new mobile and broadband contracts, I took the whole weekend off and nothing got done. But Twig was here last Friday (delivering plywood in the snow!), Saturday and Sunday as well as Wednesday, and I’ve been working on my own this Friday, Saturday and Sunday to keep making modest progress. Twig’s got more wiring and stuff fitted as well as the heater pump and water tank vent, and we also got the fuel tank and port steering compass back in while we were both here. (more…)

Last weekend Twig and I got some tricky Fly jobs done in lining the parts of heads, forecabin and coachroof where the liner’s stuck directly on (there are removable panels elsewhere) then refitting the companionway bulkhead facing, and were quite relieved to get through this lot with things looking good and no major mishaps. But some things turned out to be not quite so right when I returned in Tuesday’s snow to take the photos… (more…)

While Fly work’s obviously no longer progressing at late December/early January pace now I’m back at ‘work work’ for the new school term, it’s no way grinding to a halt either with various bits and pieces on and off the boat still getting evening and weekend attention… (more…)

So it’s 1 January, Fly relaunching year, and the refit continues apace… (more…)

Last time I blogged (a month ago), you got the No-photo report (with photos), so today I follow up with ‘Two months’ work in twenty photos’ (which may just be twenty-one!), starting with what I’d already described and partially shown there: (more…)

I keep hoping to get some photos to show Fly progress, but prefer the non-flash photos and don’t get much light to work with in November, especially by the time I finish work (day job) during the week or boat work at weekends. So here’s what you might get to see soon if I get the chance… (more…)

While it’s been a while since I last reported on Fly progress here, things have still been happening and I’ve been saving up photos for a report. I’d planned to keep all the mast step rebuild pics for a complete account of that, but have decided just to publish anyway because I wanted to get something out. So what you see here might also include progress with the galley, water tank and seacock renovation, but it’s mostly about the not-quite-finished mast step (which should never sink into the deck again). (more…)

Having got about as far I can with on-boat work till I can check everything with Twig, I’ve been turning my attention to some of the removable pieces stored in my workshop. So now reporting progress with the chart table and forecabin bunk boards, and it does feel like the pieces of the jigsaw are starting to come together even if there are plenty more (battery box, heads door, pilot berth sections, saloon floor, headlining panels etc.) still to ‘fit’. (more…)

No more!

You have to read that with the title because, one week and approximately 41 hours of work after I described Fly’s cockpit lockers as ‘cavernous hellholes of peeling paint on dirt on paint on dirt still awaiting a good clean back’, they’re just about ready (bar some minor filling etc.) to recoat with something more practically durable. (more…)