Ugly Duckling has Fledged

After what has seemed like an eternity Naughty-Cal has come out of her ugly duckling stage and has fledged again. We have finally managed to reassemble the interior after a few weeks of ripping it out to fix various items hidden away in the bowels of the boat.

First up was refitting the interior carpets following the shower room water leak. We have finally fixed the leak, admittedly with a bit of a bodge, but it now doesn’t leak so the freshly washed and cleaned carpets are stuck back down. The interior already starts to look much better.

Next up is the macerator pump. Not the nicest of jobs but now that we are sure it is fixed we reassemble the midships berth, but not before swilling out the sump area around the pipework with a strong disinfectant mix then mopping it back out just to kill any stray nasties down there and keep the area smelling fresh.

With the messy, smelly jobs out of the way we tackled the shower room light which had decided to pack up last week. It wasn’t obvious how the light fitting was accessed but with a little bit of patience we managed and with the new light installed we could sit back and relax. Everything on Naughty-Cal was in working order.

Yesterday we just enjoyed the sunshine. With no jobs to do and the boat clean we set off out in the dinghy. With Naughty-Cal’s props still not back from the repair shop we had little choice, but it made a pleasant change to see the river from a different perspective. The river was busy what with the warm weather but we were able to nip in and out between the bigger boats. We eventually settled on heading through Lincoln turning around at Stamp End Lock before heading for the Pyewipe for Sunday lunch. We were glad we ate at dinnertime, not something we often do, as the sun just got hotter and hotter. We ran for cover at around 2pm to get out of the scorching sun, seeking shade on the bow of Naughty-Cal where we could sit and watch the world go by with a few beers.

Now just four more days at work and then the big adventure begins....