Early Spring Cleaning

Even though the weather has been less than spring like over the weekend, with winter reminding us that it is still here for now, I have made a start on the thankless task of spring cleaning, decluttering and valeting the cabin of the boat. Not a task I enjoy doing but it needs doing thoroughly at least once every six months or so, so why not make a start on it now and get it done in plenty of time?

To break up this arduous task I take the cabin one area at a time. This weekend I tackled the midships bedroom cabin and the galley area. Next weekend it will be the turn of the shower room and the saloon area. The midships cabin always catches me out. It is a small room so you assume that it won’t take long, however extracting the mattress through a small entrance hole and then cleaning in a confined area with a low ceiling height makes for hard work. On the plus side with bed base, walls and ceiling wiped down and cleaned, the mattress vacuumed and aired and the hatches cleaned, it only leaves the shelf and cubby hole to clear of unwanted junk before remaking the bed. The shelf in the midships houses the book, DVD and CD collection. Over the last few years this collection seems to have out grown its home so it was time for a thin out of the unwanted and unwatched items which were thrown in the car and brought back home, leaving much more room on the shelf and a much tidier, fresher look to the room.

With the midships finished my attention turned to the galley. Another seemingly small area of the boat but one that actually takes quite a while to get the better of. Again I cleared an amazing amount of junk from the cupboards and lockers, where does it all come from? At this rate Naughty-Cal will be loads lighter by the time we have finished this spring clear out. The galley took quite a while to sort out but the effort was well worth it and the effects instantly noticeable with a cleaner, fresher look and clutter free cupboards, lockers and surfaces. We actually have free storage space again in the cupboards.

Whilst I was busy in the cabin, Liam was at work in the cockpit. Another thankless task as the cockpit is the most used area of the boat so the one that suffers from the most general dirt and grime. The dashboard and cabin door needed a good wipe down and polish, the seating had a quick wipe but really needs a good scrub with EVM and a good hose down when the weather is warmer and the floor was vacuumed, mopped and dried out. The results again were instant and a marked improvement. Liam also removed the transom gate to take to work so that he can retap the dodgy hinge threads and make the gate much easier to operate. He also topped up the diesel tank and the water tank so that we don’t have to mess around next weekend.

With this little lot completed it was time to start enjoying our hard work with a quick run out. It was by now mid afternoon but the weather was crisp and clear so it would be a shame not to make the most of it. We didn’t get very far, just a quick nip to the Pyewipe for a couple of pints, before heading back to the marina to listen to some music with a few more drinks to hand.

Sunday was another quiet day. With dinner in the slow cooker we went about our morning’s business, lazing around, reading the newspaper and drinking coffee, before pottering around, tidying up a little more and planning our schedule of attack on the remaining jobs to finish on Naughty-Cal before Easter. As the morning gave way to afternoon, we decided to head out and enjoy the winter sunshine with a quick run into Lincoln. We didn’t get very far, as soon as we left the marina entrance we hit the iced up canal. Ordinarily we would have just ploughed on through breaking up the ice but we didn’t feel like it on this occasion, so we reversed back though our broken path and swung around back into the marina and the safety of our berth.

Next weekend we are in for more hard work getting Naughty-Cal ready for a long season of cruising ahead. The cabin needs the spring clean finishing off, the transom gate is to be reinstalled; we are going to hopefully mock up the outboard bracket, rewire the radar arch, head to Torksey caravans to buy a few items ready for the cruising season and hopefully enjoy a cruise out somewhere. Who said boating was relaxing?