Aquila receives some TLC
by: David L.
Leaving the house on Monday morning held promises of a beautiful day. After collecting Tony with a boot load of tools and dog we headed for Goliath at Ryeford. The plan was to renew the deckboards in Aquila.
After loading Aquila with all the kit we moved Goliath and Aquila to the landing stage next to the field and set up for the work ahead. With no power available it meant good old fashioned hand sawing where I seemed to draw the short straw. Tony being very busy with kneepads and tape measure setting out the design and giving me cutting instructions. Thank goodness he had brought a new saw as mine was a bit ragged for the task ahead.
As we worked we got hotter and hotter stopping frequently to have a cup of tea and slowly but surely getting rid of all the excess clothing.
Margaret passed on the way to the Ocean and Wookey Hole as well. Colin with a huge number of people on a flotilla of Boatmobility boats also steamed past.
We carried on grafting with lots of grunting and groaning, thank goodness for knee pads.
All the boats returned from their trips while we were cutting and nailing the boards down.
At last it was complete with barely a yard of excess material left. All that is left now is for me to cut some strips to fill narrow gaps between the boards. Good job done.
A paint job next. Any volunteers to help with that?
David and Tony
