Doesn't time fly! Well over a month since my last posting, with quite a few things done to update.

I decided against turning Warrior around just to paint the far side.In stead, I took the brave decision to stand in the tender & do the painting from alongside; trouble was, I chose a Sunday & a busy one at that! I spent more time hanging on,or telling boaters to slow down, than I did actually painting. Some idiots either don't know there is an 8 knot speed limit,or they don't care & have no respect for others. (probably more to the point). The picture above shows Warrior from the river,showing the new paint job.



The next job was to fit the new saniflow, to pump out the waste water from the bath,shower & two hand basins;usually a fairly simple plumbing job but, just awkward for me to get to so,I decided to pass the job over to a plumber..........five weeks later, I finally located one that was willing to work on a barge & even then, that was down to the fact that he owns a fishing boat moored here. Anyway, two hours work was well worth it, as we now have an efficient, quiet pump,that does not smell!

We had decided last winter that it would be a good idea to fit a wood burning stove up in the wheelhouse, mainly due to the excessive cost of diesel for the central heating(don't get me started on that one!) & after the usual trawling of the internet, we found a local company, just set up by a couple of young lads,in fact,we were their first customers.

With help from our friend Tim, the fire was fitted within a couple of hours & now that the evenings are turning decidedly chilly,it has made a huge difference to the wheelhouse, where we can now sit late into the evenings,in cosy warmth.

One down side to this update,is that we are still awaiting for Suttons Boatyard to give us the nod to take Warrior out for the hull to be repainted etc; another couple of weeks & it will have to be put off until the spring which,is very disappointing.