On 7th February RoJo was taken out of the water, the bottom ultra high pressure washed and the lower hull two-part epoxy blacked. Bitumen blacking lasts between two and three years while two-part epoxy will last between six and ten so it's important when changing to the two-part epoxy to examine the sacrificial anodes and, as ours were all over half eroded new ones were added alongside the old and on the recommendation of the boatyard, side anodes were installed.
While all this was going on we remained on board with just a few minor inconveniences. The sink, bathroom basin and shower were not useable so it was "buckit and chuckit" into a nearby soakaway for the first two and using the marina showers for the third.
We were, at first, put off using Keel Boat Services by a Google review but asking around it was very strongly suggested that the very negative review said far more about the reviewer than it did about the reviewee.
What we experienced was a happy, contented and close-knit staff team willing and able to help in any way they could to assist. Our blacking and new sacrificial anode installs were carried out with skill and enthusiasm. When it was time to go back in Karl (one of the partners) took the boat back to our mooring in a very strong wind with a skill that amazed me and the many watching gongoozalers.
Thank you Keel Boat Services.
We had a small disaster while we were on the hardstanding, our multi-fuel stove broke down. The circular riddle grill burnt through thus reducing its 360˚ circle to a 90˚ quadrant rendering the stove unusable until replaced, which took 12 days rather than the expected 5 days. It was a small disaster because we simply ran our diesel fired central heating otherwise it would have been a total nightmare disaster.
Narrow boating superstition demands that boat names can only be changed when the boat is out of the water so we took the opportunity and renamed our boat. What was RoJo is now Fantasma, which, for those who don’t know, is the Spanish (and Portuguese) word for Ghost.
A signwriter, Alan Baillie, who was staying in the marina did a great job of signwriting the new name and illustrating it with a cartoon painting of a cheeky chappy spirit.
The only things needed now are an end to the winter stoppages and some reasonable weather to set us towards our next goal, which is 277 miles (including 3 miles of tunnels) and 198 locks to the south.