12 February 2018

Pat's Progress

With the decks and just about everything else covered in ice this morning, it was a welcome sight when the sun popped above the trees to warm things up.

In order to warm us up, we set about unloading the various lengths of railway track and lumps of pig iron used to ballast the stern of the boat, all of which was covered in an oily sludge from the bilges.


This will now permit the removal of all the other foreign matter that has gathered there over the years.

After morning break, it was back to trying to shift the last intransigent pin from the hydraulic leg system.  The original intention was to cut through the pin and make good, but a quick check of of the access revealed that the large disc cutter would not do the job so, with the application of much heat, another attempt to get it unseized began.  Suffice to say that it has now yielded and is partly removed.  It is going to take another session or two to persuade it out fully.