The Rain, and Things Built
Feb. 7th, 2026 08:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunnIt poured with rain this morning. I hoped that it might be raining less in Pembroke, so I took Theo there for a walk. But it was not raining less. It was not raining so hard that the Commons were flooded, as has happened a few times this winter, though I did end up rather cautiously driving through a giant puddle that ran right across the road.
Everyone else was driving through it and there was no easy way to wimp out by the time I saw it with traffic behind me, so I just aimed at the middle and hoped. And made it!
Theo and I went for a very short walk and soon agreed that it was too wet for walking. We went to a cafe instead.
Eventually it stopped raining, more or less, so we did the walk around the castle very soggily... until the rain came down again and we fled, defeated. Theo is not a fan of rain.
Then the sun came out, so I got out the frame I made to mount the Mirror on the car, sanded off the worst rough bits, and added some wheels. I'm quite pleased with the wheels: they are attached with bolts and wing nuts to the cross-pieces so they can easily be removed to allow the frame to go on the car, but the mounting pieces are also under the main weight-bearing bars so that the whole structure is quite robust.
I had some spare little angle brackets, so I put those on too to make the whole thing more rigid when moving it about.
I was able to get the dinghy outside on my own, but enlisted Pp to help me roll it over onto the frame.
And also to help me get it back inside once the boat was upside down on its wheely frame (I used the usual straps to hold it onto the frame while moving, though it's stable enough that you can just wheel it gently around without straps now it's inside on a flat surface.
Now it's all ready for me to try to get the paint off (and eventually, repaint). I've ordered paint stripper and a heat gun from Screwfix: as predicted, I have already spent more at Screwfix than I spent on the boat.... May possibly have a go at it tomorrow.
Most of the paint is just flaky old paint, but there's something else going on here along the metal keel band. Old epoxy, possibly? Will see what happens when I remove it.
Everyone else was driving through it and there was no easy way to wimp out by the time I saw it with traffic behind me, so I just aimed at the middle and hoped. And made it!
Theo and I went for a very short walk and soon agreed that it was too wet for walking. We went to a cafe instead.
Eventually it stopped raining, more or less, so we did the walk around the castle very soggily... until the rain came down again and we fled, defeated. Theo is not a fan of rain.
Then the sun came out, so I got out the frame I made to mount the Mirror on the car, sanded off the worst rough bits, and added some wheels. I'm quite pleased with the wheels: they are attached with bolts and wing nuts to the cross-pieces so they can easily be removed to allow the frame to go on the car, but the mounting pieces are also under the main weight-bearing bars so that the whole structure is quite robust.
I had some spare little angle brackets, so I put those on too to make the whole thing more rigid when moving it about.
I was able to get the dinghy outside on my own, but enlisted Pp to help me roll it over onto the frame.
And also to help me get it back inside once the boat was upside down on its wheely frame (I used the usual straps to hold it onto the frame while moving, though it's stable enough that you can just wheel it gently around without straps now it's inside on a flat surface.
Now it's all ready for me to try to get the paint off (and eventually, repaint). I've ordered paint stripper and a heat gun from Screwfix: as predicted, I have already spent more at Screwfix than I spent on the boat.... May possibly have a go at it tomorrow.
Most of the paint is just flaky old paint, but there's something else going on here along the metal keel band. Old epoxy, possibly? Will see what happens when I remove it.
no subject
Date: 2026-02-08 07:25 am (UTC)Last year I wanted to strip paint from old skirting boards. Paint stripper had minimal effect. After umming and ahing, I decided to repaint the skirting rather than hand over yet more of my money to B&Q for a heat gun.
Skirting now looks okay, but I still wonder if I should have opted for the heat gun.
no subject
Date: 2026-02-08 10:50 am (UTC)I'm planning to strip the boat as far as I can, because I want to know if there are any major problems lurking under the paint, and because of that possible old epoxy which is clearly splitting away and needs at least removing and probably replacing if the boat is going to continue to be a boat, rather than a collection of plywood: I really don't want it changing from one to the other underneath me!
I bought the cheapest available heatgun, which was 20 quid, and a heavy-duty scraper. Did wonder whether to try borrowing the heatgun, but ultimately came down on the side of convenience and 'once you've got it it's there to use in future'.
Years ago I bought a rotary saw that I spotted on sale, and I really haven't used it much up to this point and actually felt weirdly guilty about it: who was I to buy such a powerful saw and never use it? But it's proving to be really useful for this project so at last I can consider it a well-justified expense!
no subject
Date: 2026-02-08 11:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-02-08 12:37 pm (UTC)Poor Theo! I don't think anyone has been enjoying this winter much, except ducks and spaniels.
Fantastic picture of grimly looming castle, though!
no subject
Date: 2026-02-08 02:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-02-08 03:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-02-08 05:53 pm (UTC)I had thought of buying a dinghy that was already in sailable condition, or even a new one (they make Mirrors in lightweight glass-reinforced plastic foam now) but that would be (even more) expensive. and I decided in the end that I'd quite enjoy bringing one back to life and learning on the way.