There are things, as all boaters know, that can be dealt with during the darker and colder time of the year. All that is needed is the ‘will’ and a place to do it.

I had no constraints for washboards and the locker door. but for the cockpit locker seat tops, an approaching week of ebb tides at the dark ends of the day was going to give me a window, so, I cracked on with the first items as they would not stop me using the boat.

A bit of dry and sunshine allows outside preparation like stripping and sanding and a shed or garage used as such is great for touching up, however, being ‘allowed’ to fetch bits into a conservatory is a boon for final coatings…

The cockpit aboard Whimbrel is due to be varnished this coming spring, so, the cockpit seat lids, wash boards and poop locker door have all been brought home and refurbished in advance.

The wooden bar I fitted across the aft uprights of the pushpit to support the lifebelt holder was also removed. Its coatings had degraded and it has suffered water attack. A complete strip and hard sand got rid of all stains.

It took a little while for the bar to dry out properly before it had a final sanding. Meanwhile, touching up several coats to bared areas on the boards was completed.

When the boards and hatch door were completed they were returned aboard Whimbrel and the locker seat lids came home – I had a week of ebb morning/evening tides to get done.

In between adding touch-up coats to the cockpit seat tops, the bar was given several coatings of epoxy.

The seat lids were in relatively good condition as I’d done some prep work back in the autumn.

The lettering on the lifebelt had degraded too. A simple job to redo…

Many, if not most boats do not have a name and a port if wished marked on the lifebelt carried aboard. I used to have ‘IYC’ but that lifebelt went into a skip upon leaving that place. I could mark it with ‘Blackwater Marina’ but it is a bit of a mouthful! On Classed vessels marking is a requirement and is something advised for smaller vessels. It is usual for the lifebelt to float free, eventually, thus providing a clue to a vessels loss, however…

As the locker tops were dished up, the bar received its last of three coats of epoxy. It generally took two days to harden sufficiently to abrade and then add another coat. I hung it from a curtain pole above a radiator finally! NB: a nail fitted into a drilled fastening hole nicely, giving a convenient hook…

The locker lids came ‘indoors’ for their final finish coat.

The wooden bar has now had three coats of varnish over the epoxy and tomorrow it will be returned to boat and fitted back.

Roll on some spring warmth to get at the rest of the cockpit, although some preps are already in hand.

It never stops…