Taking the Pressing out of 'Irrepressible'

Here we are after a long gap between updates again. Truth to tell is that we have taken a while to settle back into our routine (of sorts) since we returned from Australia and get back into those projects that we had started before we went. In other words we have just been plain idle and have had nothing interesting to write about.
However, we have been good just lately and things are happening again in the effort to make the boat as pleasurable as we can to use an live on. I suppose this posting is a report on that progress.

We are very pleased with the new sail covers and the colour which does a lot more for the boat than the green did. Under all those other covers are the dinghy (forward deck), the generator (aft deck) and the dinghy motor and barbeque ( either side aft rails). There she is radiating all her new found glory.

Putting the new bog on the blog - here a picture of the new enclosure, with a picture of the other side. As you can see, any visitors sleeping in the forward cabin won't have the problem of their pillow falling off the back of the bunk into the toilet any more. It is all operational just needs painting or covering with formica or something.
I shall have to shorten 2 squabs a little now and tidy up the covers.
No problem.

It is great having the curtains all finished. It makes the living areas much more homely but the best thing is that we now have privacy when it is dark and the lights are on.

We have been out since the new sails were installed. They are better and the it doesn't look like we forgot to iron the sails any more.

Oh, the SSB Radio needed attention. When our friends the Boyles on 'Nutcase' left for Fiji we thought we would talk to them each day and track their progress but it was not to be. It needed servicing and we have just got it back - John is putting it back where it belongs. Too late for talks with the Boyles though - we got a text to say that they have arrived in Suva after 9 days so they did well. Arrived in 40 knots with the sea anchor out. We texted back telling them we were enjoying our Millpond here. Bonus for me with the radio needing to come out was that the aerial tuning unit had to come out as well - from my wardrobe - which gave me more room. John had to put it back somewhere else.

Someone called Tom and a companion have just arrived - I thought for the freezer but they are climbing up the mast. Turns out it is the riggers putting up an inner fore-stay that can take a sail. We don't need it - in fact we got rid of the inner furler because it was a nuisance with the headsail at times while tacking but apparently this can be clipped away. But it seems that it is a requirement to go Category One which is a requirement before Customs will let you out of the country, so forgive me if I sound a bit worried.

About the freezer, it seems we needed to put some goo in somewhere (John did that) and it goes better and we don't have to run the motor so long to get it down now. But we really want the option of using shore power for it while we are tied up so that we can go away for a few days without having to empty it. Apparently there is a plate of some sort that can be inserted to achieve that. At present we have to run the motor for a bit each day to keep it freezing.

We still have not had the boat out of the water to have its bottom scrubbed.

In the meantime I have been continuing my search for knowledge, photos etc. with the ongoing family research. Now that we are in back in the pioneering great-grandparents area I have been seeking out fellow descendants and with one set of G'Grands ( the Clements) having 16 children who all survived and the others (Magees) having 8 - there are plenty of us.
I was rewarded last week with a second cousin sharing her photos with me - unfortunately had been bent but at last I know what my Great-Grandparents Magee look like. They came from Ireland and seeing he taught at a native school at one time I often wondered if those native children had Irish accents.

Next week we plan to do a car trip around the North looking up more fellow descendants and visiting some of the old places.