Dawn Patrol

The last couple of weekends, Mary and I have got up at 0530 in order to take Misterton out on the river while its quiet. This was a good way to get some practice in and test out the steering while not getting in any one else's way. The steering is certainly better, but I did manage to hit some trees and run aground turning around just below the M25 bridge at Runnymede a couple of weeks ago. Certainly more ballast will help the propellor get a better 'bite'. We've learnt though that slowly does it and to give Misterton a chance to respond. This weekend just gone we managed to turn round without hitting anything, which was an improvement. We were joined on this trip by Mary's brother Steve, and he had a navigation application for his iPhone (he's a keen sailor).

You can see our trip here and there are pictures at various points to click on. Here's one of Staines road bridge in the early morning.

It seems like its been too hot for much boat work, but I've been tidying up the engine room in the evenings, cleaning and de-greasing the floors before treating for rust with Vactan.

Then painting with deck paint left over from my narrowboat Iris.

Just need to sort through the tools and other stuff in the engine room now.