Scraping and sanding the varnished cockpit coaming reveals repairs and reinforcements, witness to the passage of time and hard use of the past 85 years. Far from detracting from the look of the boat I rather like them, imaging the events in the past that led to these scars brings her history to life. Was it a storm straining on the cleat that split the teak, did the boom get dropped on it, or was it some clumsy oaf getting too enthusiastic with a winch handle?

At the stern is a Tiller Comb, a long piece of timber with holes for pegs that are used to trap the tiller on a given tack, a kind of auto pilot if you like. It cleaned up rather well… #2 Son did sterling work with the hot air gun and scraper, well done Joe.

Sunday morning dawned frosty and blue and having treated ourselves to a sausage and egg onion bagel I left Tilly in the warm embrace of ‘USA’s Cutest Kittens’ or some such nonsense and ventured out for more sanding and musings on the tracks of Flamingo’s passing years. The muddy path to the field had tracks of a different kind, this part of East Sussex has a burgeoning population of deer and they are rather partial to apple trees, much to mother’s despair. Venison for Christmas?

The cold weather and the shorter days have prompted me to set up this beauty. A cast off from work, the lamp blasts the bench with light and a bonus warmth too! I think some sort of spigot clamp would work better than the tripod though, as it eats up a rather large amount of floor space.

Though it is lighter now, the old workshop is still gently rotting from the ground up, the pillar drill is slowly disappearing into the floor and the roof leaks seem to be breeding, so I’ve cleared a space around the shed by the boat to build a new one….

Meanwhile, in a much smarter workshop, the Bosun has been beavering away making some lovely teak washboards.

Can’t wait to get them fitted and give him his next project…… saloon table maybe? Teak grating for the cockpit….? Hand rails for the coach roof….