Long Weekend

A bit of a rarity for us this weekend, we have taken Friday off work and are having a long weekend. We will head down to the boat this evening, I am sure Naughty-Cal will be somewhat surprised to see us.

There is a reason for this extra time off work though. Courtesy of the Sealine Forum, we are having a trip around the Sealine factory on Friday followed by a buffet lunch and country pursuits at the Stourport Manor Hotel then drinks afterwards in the bar. We have off course booked a room for Friday evening so we don’t have to drive back under the influence.

It will mean an early start on Friday morning as we have to get from Lincoln to the Stourport Manor Hotel for 9.45am. This means that we really have to be on the road by 6am!! Still it will be worthwhile to meet up with some new found friends from the forum and also to see where Naughty-Cal was manufactured. It will be an education for us all to see some of the processes involved in producing a GRP sea worthy vessel.

Following the factory visit we are heading back to the hotel for a buffet lunch provided by Burton Waters, the Sealine dealer for the East Coast. This will be a chance to ask any questions we have to the Sealine team. Then it is out into the hotel grounds to partake in archery, clay pigeon shooting, cross bow shooting and pistol shooting. Hopefully the weather will be a little better than at present. With the country pursuits completed it is time to hit the bar for drinks and a meal. No doubt the night will be long.

Saturday will see us all go our separate ways after a hearty breakfast. We are heading back to the marina where we will be dining during the evening at a friend’s house at the marina. We should get back to Burton Waters for mid afternoon so we will have time to give Naughty-Cal a quick once over and maybe even get a quick run out to Lincoln before heading across to raft alongside our friends boat for the evening. We will most likely sleep at the bottom of their garden for the night.

On Sunday we really have to get Naughty-Cal ready for next week’s lift out. The cockpit carpets are to be taken home for a good clean with the carpet cleaner and no doubt this will reveal that the cockpit is ready for a mop out and quick wipe around. Leaving the carpets in whilst chocked up on the hardstanding is not recommended as the surfacing is a loose ashy type material that is very difficult to get back out of the carpet.

So a weekend of relative relaxation but only in preparation for a couple of weekends of long hard graft to follow. It will all be worth it in the long run when Naughty-Cal is looking in pristine condition once more.