It’s fair to say that we were a bit nervous that the headlining project was going so well and we had a bit of a hiccough when skipper discovered that one of the panels in the forward heads had been put in before the surrounding cabinetry and had to be destroyed to be removed. Not good.  But after a bit, make that a lot, of a chiselling and a trip to Plyman in West Auckland for an off cut of marine ply, a new panel was made up and the headlining production line was back in business.

Next up the forward cabin (our bedroom) where we most definitely “hit the buffers” when Mark discovered that for several panels the vinyl had been put in place in situ over the screws with the additional obstacle of being glued firmly in place. Bugger!  So we’ve been stuck on “23 done, 15 to go” for a few days now with the fore cabin looking like a war zone.  As our mattress sections are propped up in the saloon we’re now talking beyond chaos…

Our barely recognisable forward cabin:

Templates required for new panels:

Absolute chaos rules:

However it’s not all doom and gloom as, following a chance encounter in the Pier21 boat yard before Macushla was relaunched, we were very lucky to be asked to dog/house sit for Angus and Anna in Parnell.  Enter Barker the most adorable schnauzer with heaps of energy and character to match, who has provided us a much needed diversion from the tribulations of the latest boat project and ensured we get lots of exercise too.  As ever in Auckland there’s always acres of green spaces nearby to explore and Barker just loves to chase after balls with his seemingly endless energy.

Fortunately he gets on well with other dogs and enjoys a playful romp with most that we come across.  One such romp occurred yesterday as we took our morning walk along the boardwalk around low water.  Picture this… We came across what looked like the Parnell Ladies Who Lunch Club with their obedient, sedate and pristine dogs, when our spirited charge took it upon himself to whip them all into a frenzy and challenge them to a game of tag on the mud flats.  Think mud, glorious mud EVERYWHERE!  The dogs were having such fun, sinking sometimes up to their stomachs and we found the whole thing absolutely hilarious, especially the bemused look on the Lunch Club ladies’ faces as they finally walked on looking like they’d been to a Glastonbury dogs’ festival.  Barker’s subsequent run-around on the dewy grass made no impression on the mud and we had to hose him down outside before popping him in the bath, where we got him squeaky clean with some of our l’Oréal shampoo – Because He’s Worth It.

When we’re not larking around with Barker boy, we are able to progress the headlining panels in the spacious garage here – a real godsend.

So, we’ve had another trip to Plyman and skipper has been making up new panels and it won’t be long before things are moving in the right direction again.