Pic: Colin and the weeny washing machine

January is closing on a cold note with our first light dusting of snow this morning, more like icing sugar than snow. The wind is picking up from the north east increasing the chill factor and making it tempting to just stay under the duvet all day.

After our travels to family over Christmas and New Year it took us a while to get back into the swing of boat jobs. Colin is still working away in the forepeak, putting in insulation, making repairs and building a storage locker between the new water tanks, making the windlass battery breaker switch more accessible. I've been doing some sewing repairs and other little odd jobs.


Pic: The new locker door in the forepeak ready to be varnished and the new wall sides covering the holes where drawers used to be.

We decided to take a trip to the London Boat Show but we found it pretty disappointing. There were hardly any chandleries there and those that were there were mainly selling electronics rather than the bits and bobs that we were after. We only got half the things done that were on our list and the show seemed much reduced in size compared to our previous visit. There were a few interesting displays including a beautiful boat made with donated wooden items including guitars, cutlery drawers, spirit levels and hockey sticks. You can see more about the project here

Part of the space had been given over to an Outdoors show which I actually enjoyed more than the boat show, not least because I got to have a free go on a 500ft long zip wire with Go Ape! This was my first go on a zip wire - I don't mind heights but I don't like ladders and I had to climb one to get to the launch platform. I chose the wooden ladder rather than the rope one - the way it wobbled when others climbed up that one made my head swim just watching them. Launching off the platform was exhilarating and as I zipped down the wire spinning slowly around I got a 360 degree view of the show. I've since won a voucher for a tree-top session with the same company - top bananas!

Our main excitement of January is finally getting lucky on eBay on our bids for a second hand compact washing machine. We've gone for a Zanussi ZWC1300 which will be installed into a space next to the engine room which so far has been filled with stuff that we've never used and probably never will. So that will be emptied and an access door made in the aft head wall. It's a luxury that we've been thinking about for a while and have been up and down about whether to get one or not but having saved me a cold walk to the launderette this week it already feels worth every penny. It runs really quietly and with its low power consumption and small water usage we think it will pay for itself very quickly.

Pic: A frosty morning in Brandy Hole

Back off under the duvet now!
Nichola