Last weekend, Jane and I paid a brief visit to Erbas to check all was well. Apart from some of that weird blue dusty mould that invaded the fo'c'sle last year it was. Happily, the mould was only in a few patches on the pillow cases so they were stripped off the bedding and consigned to a bag for a hot wash in the machine at home
We spend the night on board and then visited the Boat Show at London Excel on the Monday. It was a small show and not terribly useful in that we didn't see the things we wanted to see but it was a day out. Then it was straight home from London
Fast forward a week and yesterday saw me trogging back down the A14/M11/A120 etc on my lonesome this time. On board Erbas, all was well and I got the heating cranked up and the bedding airing ready for my overnight stop before heading down to Burnham to go over the work that needs doing on a friends boat. Friends they may be and I'll do the best deal I can do but it's still quite a lot of work and it'll consequently be quite a big bill!
After we'd spent several hours working our way through the list and mulling plans and options (with only one area of disagreement over the type of light fitting but hey, they're the customer and what they want is what they'll get ... if I can't convince them otherwise!) we switched into social mode and went for a curry before I headed back to Fambridge mid-evening
One beer is never enough and the lone bottle of Spitfire I'd consumed at the curry house was begging for a pint of IPA to keep it company so it was into the Ferry Boat for a reasonably swift pint. Then it was back to the boat where I hit all the "on" switches on the heaters, wrapped myself in a sleeping bag inside a double quilt with a layer of fleece blankets on top and sparked up the laptop to watch something instantly forgettable on demand TV over the (now very good it must be said) marina Wi-Fi
I set an alarm on the off chance that I slept in and it was a good job too because it was that which awoke me this morning. I made a coffee which was just barely drinkable but then the water has been in the tanks for about three months now. Time for a refresh next visit but there wasn't time today. Swiftly putting Erbas back to sleep I negotiated the frosty pontoon, gazing in disbelief at the ice on the surface of the creek (salt water remember!) and it was off to Limehouse Basin in East London
A broken down vehicle caused chaos on the A13 but happily I had bacon butty and bucket of coffee on the go from a garage along the way so it was just a case of grind my way around, through and along. Driving in London is never for the faint of heart or the impatient and I've done enough of it in the past to know the score.
I got to Limehouse a little later than planned but no matter. I spent some time aboard the potential clients boat and we sorted out what he needs and where it's going to be fitted. The core of the job is installing an isolating transformer in the incoming 32A mains plus replacing and relocating the rather antiquated 12v fuse panel from the engine room to the now designated electrical cupboard where the mains consumer unit is already located.
With that job sorted and the parts on order, I repaired to our friends boat "Ocean Lady" just next door for a coffee and a chat with Mark. Unfortunately, the other boat I'd been going to have a look at was scrubbed as the owner had to dash off to a domestic emergency but we'll pick that up next visit
And then it was back on the road to home again before the traffic built up.
My next visit to Erbas is likely to be work related again. I'll have to decide how much or little of the work related activity to cover in this blog which is, principally, intended to be about our sailing but as the two are somewhat connected it's going to be interesting to find the balance!
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