Monday 11th September 2017
Today Ella is going to the workshop at Overwater Marina to have her hull blacked and the anodes checked.
It was a very wild, stormy day with black clouds scudding across the sky bringing very heavy rain showers which lasted for about 10 minutes before the sun came out again.
David, Marina Manager, took Ella out of her mooring and turned her towards the slipway.
Simon from the workshop was ready with the tractor to back it down the slipway into the canal for Ella to rest on.
Despite the wind blowing Ella slightly off course, David brought Ella round towards the tractor.
Once in position between the hoists, the hydraulics began to lift Ella out of the water and the tractor hauled her up the slipway.
Once clear of the canal water, the hydraulics returned to normal level and Simon manoeuvered her into position ready for the work to be done.
Seeing her out of the water was amazing, we have been cruising in her for 2 years now, about 1100 hours, and we were pleased to see that she wasn't looking bad at all.
The hull will be power washed to clean off all the debris, then any corrosion will be dealt with before several coats of blacking will be applied.
Simon has suggested that we add 4 new slimline anodes along the length of the hull to protect more of the boat, 2 on each side.
We have also asked him to address the issue of a slight listing, which he can do with adding more ballast probably through the engine bay when Ella is back in the water.
Once this work has been done then we shall be ready to begin our next cruising adventure - probably to begin in October!! Not long now!
