Capping rails and fitting out

139 days

The picture shows the doors for the galley lockers being fitted.

As expected the weather did not allow the casting of the keel, but we did have a trial meltdown of some lead to see if it would work. We melted around half a ton in one bath and made a few ingots which will be used for internal or trimming ballast. This was really helpful. We learned how long it is likely to take, how many burners we'll need per bath and have modified our plans to make the process a bit more efficient.

Back in the boat Barnaby has been making risers for the fuel tank and building in the quarter berth. Ben is still on the painting. It was beginning to look really smart down below until Mark and I started shaping the capping rails which were temporarily fitted to the bulwarks. Sawdust and shavings now cover what had recently been pristine paintwork. The rail cappings are nearly finished and are off the boat again. We'll take the opportunity to paint the bulwarks before they finally go on.