She's home!

Platanna, that is!

Along with a car load (and a boat load) of stuff; outboard motor, spare props, half full tins of paint and anti-fouling, life jackets, ropes, chains, spares, tools... Well, you get the picture.


Now, I need to finish off Lazy Days before the end of this month (deck is all cut and fitted, so mostly sealing and gluing left to do), then I can get it out the way and started on cleaning up Platanna.


The plan is to re-launch before our local bird-fair on the first weekend of October - Platanna is advertised as a bird-watchers' boat after all.

Happy Days!

:) :) :)

My boats.

Yep, plural!


After driving "Platanna" over the summer and taking a share of the profits, I was approached by the owners who are now wanting to sell the business.

So, as of this coming weekend, both the boats in this picture will be mine - "Three Summers" the pretty one with the outboard is the one I built in London, and "Platanna" with the awning which is the commercial one.

The most important part of this deal is not so much the boat, which needs a bit of work, but the commercial licence to use it (or any other boat of mine) on the river. There are only three licences. One for the "African Queen" (quite possibly one of THE most unattractive vessels ever built - see below) one for "River Rat" and one for "Platanna."


So, there you have it - perhaps choosing the user name "Skipper" before moving back to Africa was a premonition of sorts.

'cos now I really am one!

:) :) :)

Well, it all kicked off today...

...the football World Cup, that is! South Africa played and drew with Mexico 1-1, and I have no idea how the other two games today went, or are going...

Here in our little village though, we had our own kick-off this morning - as part of the local Rotary Club, I played in three games (I'm unfit!!), where we lost the first (4-1), drew the second (0-0) and won the third (5-1); they only got the one as our two stars of the five-a-side decided to leave the field a few minutes before the end of the game "to give them a chance," said Moosa!! Oh, well, they scored in the last minute, just like Mexico did... ;)


So, only one pic from today, but hopefully back to the blog after a very uneventful couple of months...

Skip.

Spotted in the darkness.

Went out the house on Wednesday night to lock the car, using the remote which causes the car to beep and flashes the hazard lights. This caused something to fly off the roof rack and settle on a nearby wall, which waited patiently for me to get my camera. The bird, not the wall - it's always there.

In almost total darkness, using a bit of backlit ( from a nearby street-lamp) outlined feathers to focus on, I got three photo's before he flew away.

A bit of discussion between myself and others as to whether its a Cape Eagle Owl or Spotted Eagle Owl, but going by the breast feathers and eye colour, I'm pretty sure it's the spotted version.


Any ornithologists are welcome to comment ;)

:) :)

Lightshow!

This evening, while getting dinner ready on the fire outside:


And the steak was good too!

:)

Story of the Year.

Need I say more?

Here's looking at 2010.

:) :)

Vamos A La Playa.

So, as the river is in flood at the moment, and the sand bar separating the river from the lagoon is at a decent depth, I decided to take the little boat (Suzy Doo) all the way down to the beach. According to my Garmin, 15km away. Gorgeous summer's day, a bit of a south-easter blowing creating a bumpy ride on the lagoon, but a really nice ride. I think I'd like to try it again soon in Three Summers!!!


The GPS track of the trip (slipway is three blocks from home):


The red track is Suzy Doo's trip - the blue track is a trip earlier in the year in Three Summers. (I use the GPS as my Skipper's log.)

Oh, and those contour heights - they're in metres, just so you know they're mountains and not hills... ;)

I had to take my shoes off at the beach to pull the boat up on to the sand, and left them off for the return trip. Big mistake - my legs haven't seen sunlight for several years (you know, living in England) and now my shins and the tops of my feet are severely sunburnt!!! From one hour's exposure!!!!

Ouch.

Time to get some sunblock.

Still, a worthwhile trip.

:)

The Boat.

Not, not the usual one(s)!

This is Platanna, named after a type of frog common to the area.


Not my boat, but I'm now her skipper, on a part time basis. Probably one of the most difficult boats to drive I've experienced, with a chugging diesel driving a water-jet: steering is finicky to say the least! Still, I drove her on Friday afternoon with her owner, then did my first 'solo' yesterday morning, as a commercial river cruiser (in the sense that I had paying passengers), and handling gets better very quickly with practice. Nice to know, but I think the steering cable might be a bit clogged up inside - my arms are sore today.

All in all, it gets me on the water, and I get paid for it!!!

Then, another wedding last night! Today is definitely a day off!

:)

Girls on Film.

What a day!

Spent the morning sanding the hull of "Lazy Days" then went to a wedding this afternoon. As the official photographer!



:) :)

Rip Her To Shreds.

Well, deconstruction has begun in earnest - though the days are getting pretty hot now and it's best to work early in the morning and late in the evening. 29ºC yesterday and no shade to work in.

Most of the deck has been removed, exposing some pretty horrific wood below:


These pieces of mostly rotten plywood are what's left of the deck:


It's pretty obvious to me that this is not the original deck, and the repair work to the frames below it are rudimentary at best. None of the wood, even that which may be original, has been sealed or protected from water intrusion at all. A second, or maybe third repair job involved filling the volume under the deck with foam, which though it may keep the boat afloat if swamped, has also served to trap water in every below-deck compartment. At a guess, I'd say there was easily half a tonne of water in there, and I still haven't seen what's in the aft compartment. I think I will find out later today.

Ah, well, at least it's not my boat, but it will be a better boat when finished. And I'm not paying for it!

Also, it's an interesting insight into the quality of a "professionally" built production boat. I think I'll stick to building my own.

:)