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It's over a month since my last update. A reasonable amount of progress has been made. I have continued to be skint although this time it is because I've been spending - not why I haven't! More on all this later. First, life in the marina:

This ugly chap is the owner of the marina. He thinks so anyway.

We're near a US airbase so we get lots of aircraft flying over. Fighters, BIG Helicopters, Transport aircraft, even the odd stealth bomber.

I went to the show in Birmingham in August - this is a picture of a couple of R.W. Davis boats.

The nearer one in red-oxide had a lovely big slow revving diesel engine - you could see all the linkages moving like clockwork.

I had to buy a new orbital sander because my last one melted. As I can see lots of sanding in the years ahead, I decided to try a really good one. So far, I'm very pleased. I bought a Bosch GSS-something from Screwfix - excellent.

Unfortunately, I haven't taken any pictures of all the painting that we've done since. One cabin side, the roof and the front bulkhead, deck and bow are all dazzling in white undercoat. With any luck, this means that some top-coats will follow soon. Weather dependent. This will allow me to get my portholes sealed in properly. Then I can continue with the hull lining above the gunwale. I've also bought a bucket to mix the paint in! I'm going to pour it back into the pots once I've mixed the colour.

This shows the results of and the debris on the floor from my latest foam trimming session.

On a very good tip from someone (can't remember who), I tried using a belt sander.

Compare with this photo from April, showing me using a power planer:

I definitely recommend the belt sander! Really easy - forget all that rubbish about breadknives!

The reason I was trimming foam was to be able to determine the angle of the cabin side paneling so that I could work out the size of the following bit of wood:

... that goes here:

It forms the top of the box that will contain all the plumbing and some wiring. Most of the wiring will go down a similar box on the opposite side. Wiring on this side will be attached to the underside of this board. Note the chamfer to match the angle of the ash panels.

This is the first bit of plumbing going in (looking forward). It's the pressurised, cold water pipe that comes from the tank under the front deck, back as far as the shower (see the design page). At the moment, it's got as far as the kitchen sink. The double pipe clip shows where the hot water pipe (coming forward) ends (at the kitchen tap). Just visible (with plenty of imagination) middle right is the water pump next to the water tank (silver block). Here it is close up:

It's a good fit in a space that would be difficult to use for anything else. It's a 17 lpm pump with a 20l accumulator tank. It should perform quite well. I could have installed it nearer the power source but that would have meant more pipes down the side of the boat. It draws a fair few amps so it'll need some hefty wires to be efficient but it'll be more tidy this way.

Vetus sell an equivalent model in the UK for around £300. I bought it from a distributor in Holland for £167. Vetus in the UK refused to match this price. Many thanks to my Dad's neighbour Jos Kroon for bringing it over. I also bought some Athos stainless steel mushroom vents. In the UK, Vetus sell these for around £50*. I bought mine for around £35. Rip-off Britain? What do you think? I don't want to take my business abroad but I can't afford to throw hundreds of pounds away. Give me a shout if you want to try ordering from the distributor I used.

*In their 2001 pricelist, Vetus have now reduced this to a much more reasonable price.

That's all the boat pictures for now, here's some non-narrowboat pictures:

This is where my kayak is currently living. There's been some progress here too:

I've replaced the original two frames with frames that define the shape of the hull as well as the deck. I've also had to fit an extra frame at the back and will fit an extra one at the front (foreground). Most of this work is aimed at getting the hull back into the right shape. Just need to fit the extra frame and clean up and treat the inside before I'm ready to put a new deck on. Can't wait. I'm also planning to change my car for a slightly larger newer model that will enable me to drive over to Holland and collect my sailing dinghy. Can't wait for that either.

This is Lilly. The world's most un-photographable dog. I think she's a bit camera-shy - I couldn't get her to stay in frame! She's aboard Deryck's boat alongside Uisce this morning.

Finally, here's a nice relaxing scene from August when I went to Heather's parents' in Swansea. This is near Fishguard and shows another of Deryck's boats as we were having a picnic on the beach. Next update October?