The dinghy
Feb. 1st, 2026 02:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunnI bought a sailing dinghy! It was fifty quid. Pretty sure I'm going to spend about four times that on buying paint and replacing all the ropes. She was born in 1972 so we are nearly the same age.
From what I can see, the wood looks pretty good, but the paint is very tired and peeling, and the varnish has also seen better days. Of course there may be horrors lurking under the paint, but I am optimistic.
She spent about 25 years living in a garage loft.
I'd brought my ramp solution to get her on the car roof, but the previous owner declared 'We need help!' and summoned two helpful butchers from the butcher shop around the corner, who whisked the boat on to my Octavia with no difficulty at all.
The drive home was slightly hair-raising at first, particularly as it rained like mad, and I had to brave the motorways.
I did start out going along the remotest Devon lanes.
My idea was that if there were signs of slippage I could leap out and fix it immediately. But in fact, there was no slippage at all.
I did at least get to use the ramp to take the boat off again. It actually feels lighter than the canoe, which is odd, because it should be at least 15 kg heavier. But it is shorter, so perhaps that makes it feel more manageable.
From what I can see, the wood looks pretty good, but the paint is very tired and peeling, and the varnish has also seen better days. Of course there may be horrors lurking under the paint, but I am optimistic.
She spent about 25 years living in a garage loft.
I'd brought my ramp solution to get her on the car roof, but the previous owner declared 'We need help!' and summoned two helpful butchers from the butcher shop around the corner, who whisked the boat on to my Octavia with no difficulty at all.
The drive home was slightly hair-raising at first, particularly as it rained like mad, and I had to brave the motorways.
I did start out going along the remotest Devon lanes.
My idea was that if there were signs of slippage I could leap out and fix it immediately. But in fact, there was no slippage at all.
I did at least get to use the ramp to take the boat off again. It actually feels lighter than the canoe, which is odd, because it should be at least 15 kg heavier. But it is shorter, so perhaps that makes it feel more manageable.
