Bill's Log: Fitting out ‘Electron’

Airing the Mainsail.

Time and tide waits for no man, not even King Canute; nor do the seasons slumber. The spring has gone, and officially it’s summer. A very wet April put paid to plans for fitting out ‘Electron’, but today there was sun, and four healthy men set to work sanding and painting. I concentrated on rubbing down the bowsprit and the yard before giving them a coat of Sikkens; in fact, the bowsprit received two coats.

Bowsprit removed for sanding and varnishing with Sikkens.

Bowsprit with its first coat of Sikkens.

‘Electron’ can be justly proud to have a berth at the Brightlingsea Smack Dock, where she sits in a mud berth that keeps her hull healthy. Floating twice in 24 hours and settling into her hole restricts marine growth, but at the same time moistens her planks, thereby ensuring the seams remain tight without loss of caulking. Before she takes to her deepwater mooring she will be slipped and antifouled. Already her covering boards and rails gleam with new paint. Another two or three day’s work and she will be fit for her first sail of the season.