On the water once more

Posted bymaryjane678Posted inUncategorizedTags:

Hello and welcome to the latest blog from The Olivia Rose Diaries on 10th May 2024.

Back on the water.

At last we are on the move but there has been a lot of work before we finally made it back into the water. Because Olivia Rose had spent the winter outside on hard standing we moved her indoors to a shed where we could get some painting done out of the weather. This turned out to be one of our better ideas as  it turned cold, wet and windy. Winter had returned.

The photos below show a series of before and after pictures of our handiwork. As always the devil is in the preparation and I don’t know of anybody who would actually enjoy sanding down the entire hull of a 13 metre boat! Once sanded, and with the weak spots filled and sanded down again, we applied two coats of primer and two coats of anti-fouling paint for below the waterline, and another two top coats above. For some reason that now defeats me I also took it upon myself to sand and re-paint some of the white rails which soon turned into one of those jobs you wish you had never started.

The sanding begins.
Stage one, first coat of primer. Toxic stuff, hence all the protective gear. When we’re working we wear goggles and gloves as well.
And the finished article, or it will be once the masking tape is removed .

After the painting come the usual jobs associated with putting the boat back into working order: disinfecting and filling the water tanks (1,000 litres), replacing various bits of plumbing that had disintegrated over the winter and fixing a leak in one of the water pipes. Our diesel tanks (capacity 500 litres) were almost empty and also needed filling up. Marinas tend to add a hefty mark-up if they sell diesel, one we would rather not pay, so Michael made three trips to the nearest petrol station with a couple of cannisters on a trolley. Our batteries were also causing problems, but they delight in doing little else in my experience and so our ongoing saga is not something I shall inflict upon you in this blog.

The water pump then began to leak so we replaced that, after which we found two more leaks in the system. We think we might have finally cracked it – until we find the next leak! Then there are a couple of trips to the supermarket on our folding bikes with their tiny panniers to stock the shelves up and finally she goes back in the water.

This is always a nervous moment. Will the engine start after 8 months sitting idle? We needn’t have worried. She purred into life, as eager to be back on the water as we were.

Here we are at the marina at Leerdam. And we have flowers in pots as well!
And here is an example of a quiet bankside mooring.

One of the joys of being on the water at this time of year is the bird life. Coots are busy building nests in the strangest of places, whilst the Egyptian and Greylag geese are caring for their young chicks. The Great Crested Grebes carry their young around on their backs until they reach about three weeks old, after which they are unceremoniously dumped in the water. I have seen a young chick trying to clamber back on, very indignant at losing its easy ride.

It feels like a special time of year, full of young life and promise.

A tyre makes an excellent home.
Beware leaving your boat for too long. The coots never miss an opportunity to claim a desirable residence. Apologies for the quality, I had to zoom in and so it isn’t as clear as I would have liked.
Egyptian geese with young chicks, also a bit fuzzy.

Of course this is also the time of year for young lambs and I wanted to share one last video and photo. These pictures mean a lot to me, and were kindly provided by our friends back in Wales. These are direct descendants of our sheep from our smallholding years and who can help but be absolutely charmed by them? Kate and Nick took on many of our animals when we left Wales and it gives me so much pleasure to see them still going strong.

Life is so interesting when you’re  young.
Playtime

And that’s about it for this week. See you again soon.

MJ

22 thoughts on “On the water once more”

  1. Good timing Mary-Jane. Lovely newsy blog. Roughly where do you think you might (‘plan’ being a four-letter word not for polite company) head this season? Partly curiosity – partly for something I’m writing…

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    1. Hi Ian. Nice to hear from you. Our very loose plan is to head right to the top of the country to Groningen, exploring Friesland as we didn’t see it last season. Then we’ll head back down to the boatyard we’ve just left on the Linge where Olivia is booked in for another winter. But back to France next year. We never expected to do two seasons up here but we really like it. No weed! Bigger expanses of water. Different to France but contrast is refreshing. Hope you are getting back on the water yourselves this year?
      MJ

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  5. Your smallholding days, our yachting days (including painting!), and just messing about in boats – what wonderful memories.  Thank you.

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  6. Loved the photo of the Jacob sheep and lamb. I used to be a handspinner and a good Jacob fleece was always one of my favorites. Apart from that, they are lovely animals, not to mention the meat which is delicious. Happy cruising in your smartly turned-out boat!

    S. McNeely

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  8. Doesn’t she look fine! Great work, hats off to you. It must have been an exhausting process. 😩
    I feel your joy at being back on water again. May a glorious summer await you.
    Love the gamboling lambs and those crazy coots. 😉

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  10. I never knew that lambs barked!
    We have had the exact same challenges with sanding and prep and the weather (and dodgy batteries).

    Finally got our first coat of top coat on today. Just on the roof. Now for the cabin sides, the deck and the freeboard, all, hopefully before 13th June when we head out to the Thames for a haul out and bottom blacking. After that, she should be as smart as… ahem… new paint!
    Have a super summer!

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  11. I suspect there is a beaming smile on both your faces when the boat safely hits the water; sure looks beautiful after all of the elbow grease; happy travels this year, such a wonderful ongoing adventure and thanks for writing about it;

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