On the tiles

Christmas with family in Hull gave me the excuse to detour the car journey via Tamworth, dropping off the recently purchased Zanussi compact washing machine to allow timely installation. I had already been advised the varnishing was complete but was eager to see how the tiling was coming on.

Unfortunately Steve's tiler had taken extra leave shortly after starting, so had been unable to finish before Christmas. He had completed the tiling behind the saloon stove though, complete with grouting.

I suppose I was generally disappointed at the amount of work completed since my last visit a month before, but close inspection showed many small finishing touches including the trims around the edges of tiled area's. Looks like the galley tiles will be next.









The bedroom looked good with varnishing completed to a very high standard in a smooth silk finish.

A closer inspection of the dressing table extension revealed a slide out support. Not sure if I missed this last time or its recently been added.

In the engine room and BMC the undercoat in preparation for scumbling has been applied. This in turn to give an artificial wood grain effect in keeping with old working boats.

At the rear of the engine room the trim around the start of the aft swim curvature can be seen just to the right of the boxed in fuel filler pipe. Its hoped that the large oil tank required by the dry sump engine can be accommodated on supports at this level. This would leave the tank high enough for easy draining as well as allowing  removal of the floor hatch to access the diesel fired water heater below.







I also tried the fit of another recent purchase, a Samsung LED Smart TV with HD tuner. With low power consumption, very thin profile and light weight, its ideal for a compact boat installation. I enjoy my TV, so consider a 32" screen as the minimum for HD viewing. Wireless connectivity to the Internet and my laptop is an added bonus. Steve will have a pattress made to provide a vertical surface for the the mount, counteracting the tumblehome of the cabin side as well as providing a more sound base for securing. As this mount weighs almost as much as the TV, l don't think I will need to worry about security of the TV itself.

After agreeing on the paint scheme we discussed schedules for completion. It seems my boat will go into the paint shop at the end of January so a visit late next month,  just before was confirmed. Final completion date is now back to April - ho hum. Well March would probably be too cold anyway.