All afloat on RMS Decadence.

Not a lot has happened as far as 'Bringing home the stars' is concerned. Until the wholesaler contracts are ironed out, there isn't an awful lot to do. The book press release information sheets are done to send to retailers and magazines, but they cannot go out with review copies until such time as the information about where the books can be bought from is finalised!

In the mean time, I've been busy working on my boat. Yes, I did type that correctly. Yesterday Zoë and I became decadent posh people. The boat in question is a very unusual version of the otherwise common Bosun sailing dinghy. Still in production, they were adopted by the Royal Navy and the Sea Cadets, and several thousand have been built. I, however, have bought one of the prototype evaluaters used to show off the then new boat design to prospective customers, including the navy. In fact, my Bosun is number 3, and features (along with number 16) in all of the brochure material of the time!

I bought it from a man in Biddulph and hauled it gingerly north. I never like boats on trailors because of the risk of damage to the delicate parts of the boat. On the way we stopped in Congleton and bought a ratchet strap which helped my fears abate. I must mentaion the nice salesman in Halfords where we bought the strap who was very polite, very helpful and even came out to help make sure that the boat was strapped securely. It was most appreciated, and is always nice to see sales staff going above and beyond the call of duty.

The boat is in very good condition for its age (new in 1963) but does need some work doing on it. The whole keel was replaced by the previous owner and the hull is in exceptionally good condition. However the foredeck and inside the cockpit need a bit of work doing. The fibreglass gelcoat has a few cracks and spalls and I've spent today using polyester resin to repair them. I also bought some high quality (it better had be for £22 per tin - and it isn't exactly the biggest of tine either) yacht enamel in white. The foredeck has gone from dark blue to white, and the interior will follow. Incidentally, the boat was originally a pale green (and this colour did remain inside the cockpit as the interior had never been painted before). However the outside of the hull had been repainted into a dark blue, which I will be keeping as I prefer it to the pale lime green.

Aparently Zoë says that we are posh now as we own a boat and have double barreled surnames (I still use my maiden name for professional purposes, if you were briefly perplexed) we are officially posh. If she says so.