See you in 2012

I'm going to make this the last post of this year, and take a break until 2012. Elanor continues to make a good recovery, but it means that we are very busy walking Sally, looking after her house and our cat in it, as well as preparing for Christmas.

The main unanticipated event was the Squirrel glass cracking yesterday. It suddenly split from top to bottom; I was able to get a replacement from Midland Chandlers, of course, and was pleasantly surprised when the screws holding the clips came out without trouble. I used some WD-40 on them, and a serious bar on the Allan key socket, but it was still a relief.

The guy in MC advised putting a smear of Copaslip on the threads before reassembly; I didn't have any on the boat, but have ordered a small tube from Amazon, and when it arrives will take the screws out and treat them. The other thing to know is that you shouldn't over tighten the screws, nipping them up just enough to hold the glass securely against the rope seal behind it.

We've been seeing a lot of condensation in the engine room; Sheila and I spent some time sucking water out of the engine bilges, but the main solution is to keep the door open between the bedroom and the engine room so that it ventilates.

There are a couple of cold spots that we're going to get Braidbar to investigate next time we're up there, as well.

Apart from that, we've been plodding along; I called at Betty's farm on my way back from Elanor's this afternoon to stock up on fruit and veg, and the turkey arrived later this afternoon. Earlier in the day, we'd met the relief postman, who identified Sally as  Doberman lurcher on the basis of her paws and upright hind legs. She was just pleased to be fussed over.

Have a good Christmas/holiday/solstice/New Year, folks, and as I say, I'll see you in 2012.

Oh... and Sally says WOOF!