Lexie discovers BBQ sausages - part 6

We is back on da boat theme again and anova chapter in the life of me, the mum, the dad and of course our vessel, the lady Atlantis.

I fink I sticks wif 2005 because I didnt really tell you much bout wot mum and dad was doin that year, da focus in ma last post was all me!! So I say, enough about me for a change! I moved offishully on board during the summer and mum and dad were in the middle of buildin the new back structure. Dis back structure is gonna be wot is known as the saloon (dis be lounge or living room to lubbers of da land).

They arrange for about 10 tons of new steel to be delivered by crane barge to da boat. Here I am ensurin dat the steel is of acceptable quality! I has growed up a bit since den as you can see, and, perhaps some might say I filled out a bit heehee! Dat is good livin ma friend!

First of all dad welded all these lickle triangles to the deck which would become da supports for da beams wot go up! They were all measured and and tacked into place. Mum particularly enjoyed the fact that they are about ankle height and she manage to catch her ankles just about every time she move around the deck. Oopsie! Dat be her tho she always fallin over fings, trippin up fings and wot not.

Ok so once dem triangles all welde in on boaf port (dat the left to you landlubber) and on da starboard (dat is right landlubber) side dad start weldin in da beams wot becomes da erm fingies for da walls. I forget da word I ask him later but he is out right now! Here is dad admirin his handywork in da sun and smokin a fag!! He dussnt smoke no more!

After the straight bits is in place, den is time to put supportin beams across between the uprights on port and starboard. Member wot dat mean? Oh good ... jus testing! You can see in this ere picactur that da beams is goin across to da over uprights. you can also see orrible boat wot I was prisoner on. On da right of dis and the picture above you can also see the beautiful lovingly crafted anti-Lexie door mum and dad put up to stop me jumpin onto the ova boat (dat is called Mamba). Mmm no expense spared eh? heehee! And they callin dis their luxury yacht! Bless em.

Ok next fing wot they dis is to put the walls in place usin the hiab. They then clamp da walls to the beams (clever eh?) then dad does bit more tacking wif stick welder as is called. This is temporary weldin just to hold da metal in place until he does big weldin wif da Mig welder wot is big machine wot let you weld for long time big welds! See I could work in a shipyard no problemo! Here are the walls goin into place.

Dad had meticliously measure all dese fings and did draw it all first usin his autocad software wot elps him design fings da right size, shape and place on da boat. Clever ain't he? Member he has tefal head as discussed previously! Me and dad give everyfin a quick check, make sure we can walks along da side of da walls nice and easy like. Is perfect for Lexie! I also fort I check to see if door is over in case I wanna jump onto Mamba for quick bit of fun!

Next fing dat appen is to put on da roof of da structure. This was made up of four plates wot they had to crane into place. Here is one of da plates being craned in place by dad. Mum took photo's whilst directin dad coz he cud not see what was appenin! She was very crossing her paws dat it would not just slide off da boat into the water! Luckily enuf it did not! heehee.

Once all da plates was in place and da walls was done on boaf sides, time for dad to do some serious welding! Here is some welding wot he dun on the roof of da new structure. He use the jack wot you can see on da roof to bring da plates togeva so he can do nice big strong welds. Mum was his assistant and I had to stay on the maindeck coz of hot welding and sparks, for ma own safety!

Here is da view from inside the back structure. You can see is really taking shape now! Was a great place to go and cool off from dat hot sun of da summer. We all did sit inside eatin our ice creams and drinkin beer an cider (water in ma case humph). 

Mum cook evenin BBQs and I did get lots of lovely nommy sausages. Life for me was totally different. Mum did take me walkin EVERY DAY! And she teach me bout swimmin so we can go to the beach and have fun there too. At night we wud all sit on back of boat relaxin. I wud sit on mums lap while she give me tickles. 

They wud larf all the time and av music playing. Was so nice not bein locked up and free to roam around as I liked. Mum show me where to poo and wee in case we can't get off boat and them she just clean it up after I bin. No shouting, no hitting! Dat will take some gettings used to.

This photo shows the finished roof and how much welding dad did. Was very safe to stand on there. Mum and dad take me there sometime up the ladder. They did buy a little boat so we can go for trips out to sea! Is very good fun!! Da wind dus blow in your face and spray from da sea is all over you. Is very tickly and funny.

Dis is photo from anova pontoon wot show the whole of da boat. You can just about see the new structure on the back. Dis work took them most of dat year to complete and by the end of Autumn they were ready to move on to the next stage.

Tune in for da next episode and find out more about ma first holiday to the Lake District!

Lexie out!