Today, as forecast, it mostly rained. Therefore I spent a good part of it completing my tax return, with a little luck I will get a bit of a refund which will help pay for the much needed new headsail.

In the afternoon I went searching on the inside of the boat for the hole I discovered on the outside yesterday. I pulled a lot of the boat apart, the V berth, beneath the forward alleyway floorboards, and the starboard hanging locker. There was stuff everywhere but I just could not find the hole. From the outside I poked a screwdriver into the hole and came up against something hard about a centimetre inside. I tried drilling it, it was obviously metal. Eventually by taking measurements from various points on the hull, in particular the depth sounder, I reckon I had its location pretty well pinpointed. The hole must have been where a stringer and a frame met and for some reason there appeared to be a small triangular piece of steel welded into this spot, perhaps a sort of gusset. Having cleared all flammable materials away from the immediate area I broke out the welder and set everything up outside the boat to have a go at welding the hole up. It seemed to me that there was little point paying good money for someone else to do a bad welding job when I was quite capable of doing a bad welding job myself.

After much welding and grinding, then more welding and grinding, I eventually closed the hole off. I was grateful to Christophe for helping me for a short while, standing fire sentry on the inside while I welded on the outside, ready to douse any fires that might have started. If there are any imperfections in my job a bit of epoxy will soon seal off any pin prick holes that might still exist.

All is well.

Bob Cat:

Once again mayhem strikes. After several days of uninterrupted peace (if only the food would improve) today the abode was converted to chaos. In particular my vocational work space - the V-berth - was uninhabitable. I spent much of the day snoozing on the dining room settee. Hard tack for dinner, heater on, now time for a proper … zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz