27/04/13: Our First Charter of the Season.
We are indebted to 15 year old Lee Sutton for capturing some stunning aerial photographs of our first charter of the season. An excellent collection I'm sure you'll agree, more of Lee's work can be found at www.leesuttonphotography.co.uk .
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10/04/13: Spring Arrives With The Mast.
A cool trip to & from Upton to ship the mast means Albion is one step closer to the beginning of the 2013 season. There was a distinct feeling of spring in the air on the river today. Or are we tempting fate? Our grateful thanks to Eastwood Whelpton boatyard once again for storing our mast over winter & for loading it for us once again. Their team are always so helpful. Thanks also to the small team of volunteers who worked both on shore & on Albion today.
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| Albion's mast being lowered the last few feet. |
Mast being guided into the tabernacle. |
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11/03/13 : Winter Progress.
There hasn't been much to report of late other than "business as usual" maintenance. All is coming together nicely for the start of the new season.
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| The head is coming together. |
Masking the binn... |
... before painting. |
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17/01/13 : Winter Update.
Just a quick update on progress down at the Base on the winter maintenance now that Albion has returned from her enforced "exile" down in the saltwater zone! Whilst we have had a break over Christmas and the New Year, and another enforced one as we all had to attend the Coach and Horses for our post Christmas get together (!) all the major jobs planned are well under way.
To those not entirely familiar with the routine, there is a lot of annual maintenance to be carried out from the blocks right through to the toilet – a pretty broad spectrum we think you will agree. To give some idea of the type of maintenance required, at the end of each season, the blocks are dismantled and the sheaves inspected for wear. Over the last few years many of the older and cracked sheaves have been replaced with new lignum vitae ones and all of them require soaking in raw linseed oil to keep them in perfect condition. With the sheaves out we can then get at the inside of the blocks and these are treated with preservative to prolong active life. All blocks are then repainted with all the wood having three new coats and the metalwork repainted with black hammerite. The blocks are then reassembled, lubricated and stored well away from "white spot" syndrome – that is being too close to those who spray white paint everywhere!
The dinghy also gets the full "Gok Wan" treatment with a complete makeover to hide the ravages of a full season being out and about. This involves a complete paint job – easy to write but it does extend from the tar varnish underneath to the final and last coat of varnish on the thwarts! Several weeks of work but it will be sparkling when ready for training those who are scheduled to take the "RYA PowerBoat Level 2" qualification in the Spring.
Each year we also strip back to bare wood at least two of the main hatches, repairing where necessary and repainting with the new breathable paint system and replacing the old hard putty in the joints with a more flexible alternative. Almost every bit that is removed and indeed that which remains, is inspected and a decision made as to whether just clean it up or whether to repaint it - this is not quite as easy as it sounds! There is lots to inspect - and only limited time in which to do it before we need to start our crew training programme!
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| The blocks are ready to go. |
The dinghy isn't (quite). |
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| Hatch covers being prepared for paint. |
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| Should have worn gloves. |
Winter ! |
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