Week 52
24 February 2013 | Tunisia
Andrew Bates
Guest contribution by Andrew “Squirrel” Bates.
There’s a big elephant in the room and no one wants to talk about it, so the saying goes… Only this elephant isn’t in the room, it’s outside. And it’s not an elephant, it’s a 12 tonne piece of lead, upside down, which has to be tripped over in order to get to work each morning… And it certainly came up in conversation once or twice… But that’s another story.
So how did I find myself in the touristic hotspot of northern Tunisia? Well in hindsight I’m lucky I’ve still got two arms and two legs, for more than one reason (a little political upheaval anyone??)… So there I was, minding my own business, doing some light sanding on the quay and The Man comes up to me, relating some of the trials and tribulations of putting a boat back together… and I made the innocuous offer, “Need a hand?”
A hand? He nearly took every limb I had…
Actually, he has…
That’s why I’m here…
So with 2 months to go, blog photos aside, (I stupidly thought they were from the stock pile, the blog is slightly behind on progress) I had visions of maybe doing a little fairing of the hull before final coat of paint, of helping tightening a few bolts on the deck fittings, or maybe running a cable for a forgotten under-cupboard light in the galley…
And then I saw her, in all her majesty. All bare wooden hull…
and…
erm…
that’s it really.
I can attest that everything said in the blog previously is true – blocks have been rebuilt, spars are under construction, leather has been applied to fittings, sails have been ordered, brass and bronze has been polished to a blinding sheen (considerably more now polished since the start of the week, I can assure you, complete with fetching rock/punk makeover from all the dust), things are well advanced!
But there’s this elephant.
And apparently this beast only needs some coach bolts supplied by the yard in order to fit the sole to the underside of the keel. And once fitted, said elephant can be turned and manoeuvred into her rightful place below the ol’ girl. Which will allow the installation of the tanks, interior, plumbing, electrical systems, navigation systems, engine, galley equipment, finishes, etc, etc… As one mistaken skipper from the South of France once asked me, “What would you know about project management?” Well maybe only a little, but with the clock counting down, I know there’s an elephant of a problem that needs to get moving!
But aside from all this, works have progressed well this week. The deck is 95% down, bob stay fittings have been shaped and prepared for fixing to the hull, keel sole has been shaped by expert surfboard shaper ‘The Man’ and prepared for final fixing, a plethora of bronze and brass fittings have had their years of neglect removed in cumulonimbus clouds of vaguely harmful dust, spars have been caressed, soothed, massaged and further layers of make-up applied. This is going to be one very good looking old lady when she makes it back to the water!
For me, in my remaining week here, the milestone I’d most like to see achieved would be the keel back where it should be. Then the ol’ girl would at least look like she should, albeit still a little bare. And rather than risk losing a limb, I might just have to book my return visit before leaving here…
Squirrel