Didn't there used to be a kitchen ere? - part 24

Well hello again ma pals! Ow fings? Last time I was ere I dun telled you about ow we did av to get some anchors in so we cud sail Atlantis and err ... well ... stop if we needed to! Before any of dat cud appen, mum and dad had to strip out da galley so dad cud get access to the f'o'c'sle (the what!??) heehee. Well in da olden days it was called da forecastle but is pronounced folksal.  Bet you landlubbers didn't know dat eh?

As you can see from these pics mum and dad continued to strip back all da walls, kitchen cabinets and sink down to the frame and the rockwool (dat dus be fibreglass stuff wot you puts up for insulation - it is rubbish tho). When we did see what the insulation was in da galley, it explained why it was always so cold. Plus, da rockwool itself was soakin wet from all da condensation over the years. Yuk!

You can see the damp in this pic - see how the rockwool was stuck to the steel walls! Scraper time! I wonder who got that job? heehee - mum of course! I wasn't allowed in the room much. You can see from the pics that there was loads of fibre glass dust flyin around the room. Mum and dad were coughin a lot, eve tho they was wearin masks.

Here's some more of the nasty fibre glass - mum scraped all dat off the walls! She was coughing like she'd beein avin sneaky cigarettes heehee!

Ere dus be dad doing the 'I'll carry it for you dear, you carry on scraping' trick!

The room started looking a bit cleaner and less dusty as more and more fibre glass gets removed. Dad was clearing the ceiling panels (dat is wot he has in the photo above dis one) while mum works on tidying. Can you see the pattern? heehee.

Dad nips off below decks to av quick check in the lower bow to make sure the pipes dad had disconnected from the old sink were not leakin an pourin water into the lower bow.

Mum says goodbye to the orrible cooker wot she dus hate. Only one ring worked on the top and the oven door wud not stay shut. There was also no tempritcha fing in da oven so anyfink cooked in there had to be watched in case it burnt! Soooooo ... plenty of burnt lasagne ;)).

Watching all dat work as made tired! Fink I shall have lay down by the rusty pipe!

Now the kitchen is completely stripped out and mum even tidied up some tools into a little pile for dad! heehee.

Tune in next time to see how mum an dad put in da anchor and chain for Atlantis's voyage to er new ome! Fanx for readin pals!

Goodbye galley - hello house!?? - part 23

Well hello again! Is me Lexie. Ow fings? Fanx to da magic of the interwebnet and clever use of the time space continuum we is still in 2009. Big event for mum that year was goin wiv er very great friend Jaclyn to a AC/DC concert at the O2. 

Wot is the O2 Lexie I hear you ask. Well apparently it was a white elephant wot cost da taxpayer loads of money. But then it became a concert venue and is great! I av no idea wot all dat means but it makes hoomins very annoyed.

Anyway she was working in London in Waterloo at the time so decided to take the Catamaran Ferry to the concert. Ere dus be a photo of The Houses of Parliament:

Ere dus be the London Eye. Wot is a very big wheel wot goes round wiv some lozenges on it wot you can go in. Mum as bin on dat too. Looks a bit scary to me.

Ere is Tower Bridge wot dus be called a bascule bridge (comes from the French for see-saw) and was finished in 1894.

An ere dus be where mum went to see AC/DC in concert. Dis was second time she seen em live - first time was in 1979 when she was a headbanger heehee.

Anyway ... movin on swiftly back to Atlantis. Mum and dad ad found a new mooring in Essex back where they used to live so it was time to focus on gettin Atlantis sea-worvy for da trip. Like most trawlers, Atlantis didn't av no anchors because the fishermen used the fishing gear itself as the anchors. Dad telled us that she had to av anchors for her trip to Essex because we cuddn't make it there in one tide. 

For that to appen we had to pull out the galley he announced. But why? We arks him. Well, he says, because I need to get frew da front wall of the galley to the bow to install the anchors and build the chain locker! Oh ... right .. yes well we knew that of course ;).

Ere dus be a outside view of Atlantis wiv her new wheelhouse. You can see is really takin shape! For future reference, please note lack of anchors at the bow for the moment!

So, wifout furva ado, dad started rippin the galley out. Dussnt panic tho pals (remember galley is boaty-talk for kitchen) coz mum an dad did av plan up the sleeve of their tops for where we gonna eat and that. 

Ere is da first bit of work dad did in the galley. He removed the old tables wot he cut out wiv the plasma cutter. You can see, was very smoky in there!

The walls ad to come down too an as you can see ere there is a wooden frame between the wall and the outer hull. This pic shows the outer hull wot looks like it is covered in brown paper. That was insulation .... fibre glass only. Oh! No wonder it was so cold in winter ;).

Ere dus be dad workin at the front of the galley near the bow - he's cutting away all the wood ready to cut a big ole in the wall. On the left there is wot is left of the kitchen cabinets and sink.

Mum started clearin out the room as dad was working to demolish. She found old Atlantis bags wot they used to store the scallops in! Ewww memories of the fish-hold came floodin back.

We burned all da wood on the shore (which we was allowed to do). There was a oooge bonfire wot lasted for days. Mum seemed to enjoy that a bit too much dad said. Nice side view of Atlantis here wiv her new roof takin shape too. 

Now I was sitting wiv mum on da shore wondrin ow we gonna eat! Wot we gonna do for a place for relaxin coz that was always the galley. Mum telled me not only has she got a new job in Essex but we dus all be moving into a house for a while *thud ... faints* What! What??!!! She said, dad is gonna commute to Atlantis and come ome weekends and we gonna stay in da howse and go down at weekends. Pfttttt ... speechless. An then she say, it has a garden where I can run around. Ere it dus be:

I like it! An i as a nice step wot I can sit on to look around at fings. I sees cats, squirrels and some geese. This place is great! We has beds, heating, rooms, a barf, some kitchen, carpets an lots of room. We can even switch loads of fings on at once an it doesn't trip the power. Cor!

Work continues on the galley removal an mum has the great job of removin all da fibreglass wot dus be very itchy if you gets it on your skin. I was banned from da room. Ere is some fibreglass:

Well, more soon ma pals! Hope you liked ma posty today. Fanx. Byeeeeeee!!!

Danger, danger - no entry for accident-prone mums - part 16

Hee-hee only jokin! Of course she didn't fall down the hole. Mainly, because she wasn't allowed to go near the area until dad had put in new engine rooms floors and made it safe! She was allowed to stand on the ladder and look at the long long upper-deck and take a photo though!

Dad quickly worked to get the roof on and to cover up the hole for safety. He took this photo! Mum wasn't allowed in the area to take photos and he kept forgettin to take photos while she was at work so they ain't got many photos of this part of the work until after! Pfffttt silly sods! Dis photo shows one of da holes!

Well it didn't take long to do put a few sheets of steel up on dat roof and weld dem in place. I'd like to show you da photos of dat but dad ain't got time for photos (he said). Here's a lovely pic of me instead enjoyin a walk wif mum just near da wharf. For your informashuns was April 2008! I dus look quite funny coz i ad bad haircut! Dis was when I was nearly 4 years old! 

Well movin on swiftly, after dad had put up da steel on da roof and over da engine room floor he decided was time to open up the wall dividin the back of da boat (we calls dat the saloon remember?) to da front. Mum very pleased coz it meant she didn't av to come up from da bedroom, go out the back door and walk outside round to da front to go to the toilet no more. Ere dus be the journey for your enjoyment ;).

First up da stairs:

Then walk to da aft (dat is back to you landlubbers) avoidin da obstacle course:

Den back along da outside on da port (left!) side and dat is usually in the dark too wiv torch:

We woz amazed how much it changed Atlantis when she was opened up She looks massive! As you can see we tidied up a bit too! I say we .... I mean mum hee-hee.

Here is view of da front where da new kitchen (galley) will be in da future. You can see da luxury bathroom on da right ;).

Well dat taked us to about October 2008 and fings were bobbin along nicely. Mum and dad make announcement to me! They is goin away for a whole week an is goin wifout me! Some malarky bout a weddin in Malta! Wot appen to me I says! You goin on holidays to some friends they says! Pftttt wot a bloomin liberty ;)). Toon in next time for some more bout everyfink bout Atlantis and our adventures.

It must be frew da ... round window - part 10

Well hello furriends! Is still 2007 - was a very busy year you know? Dad, never content wiv one or two fings on da go at once, decides to buy the drydock where we was living at the workin wharf.

Before he know where he at, he's workin on Atlantis, Auldyn River, anovva houseboat build and boats comin in and out da drydock. Here he is stick weldin on some fingamabobbies wot is called anodes on a boat in dere. Dat his old weldin elmet he did arsk me to point out! (dog knows why!!)

They decides is time to take on more peoples and dad starts a small boat buildin business. Headin up da team dus be ma favouritest person Jared! We also has is bruvva workin for us he has long hair wot dus be called dreadlocks an he likes to run after me in da yard tryin to steal ma ball! We also has annova couple called Fry and Leela  (like from da futurama - dat is not they real names but wot we called dem for fun). They dus let me eat some of dey samwuches but we dussnt tell mum bout dat! Dat is just between us ok???

Mum dus be workin from ome quite a bit an has set up her office in da galley (kitchen). We is quite cozy in dere although sometime she get wet from da hole in da roof where dad is cuttin away old metal ready to make it easier to remove da wheelhouse. She has to wear her cagule. There be lots of noise goin on too but she dussnt mind, she all fixed up wif appropriate cloavin as you an see! Is dark in there so she has to squint ;)).

When mum is at ome I dus make maself comftibles in da galley as well. Is nice and warm in dere most of da time. We turns the cooker on for extra warmf if it get too cold. Mum make sure she sorts me out wif ma comfy cushion next to her in da galley as well!

Course as we knows, before dad cud take off da wheelhouse, he had to build da bedroom and before he cud do that, he had to finish off da back structure (wot we calls da saloon). Oh, I forgot, fings were made a lot easier wif dad's latest purchase - a big crane! Here he is sittin in da cab.

Dad also used da crane to build the two-storey wooden structure wot would go on top of da lighter he was buildin as a houseboat for a customer. Dey builded da structure on da land by da wharf and then wud use da crane to move it onto da lighter which was moored next to Atlantis. Ere dus be da wooden structure. Dem windows is from China!

Meanwhile back on Atlantis, Dad and Jared was workin on preparing da back structure for da windows. First of all they dun painted da structure so it would be easier to mark out da windows. Then they use a template made of some stuff wot is called MDF and cutout all da steel to form da windows. Here dus be a before and da after shot - can you see dem differences?

Before:

After:

Here's da view from da inside after dey had blasted and painted it.

Maybe you dus remember dat it looked like dis at da start back in 2003 and mum is standin in roughly da same place for boaf photos!

I fink 2007 was their hardest year. They worked really hard and achieved a lot dat year. I hasn't even telled you bout all da ovva fings yet! So I leave it there for now with a lovely sunset over da river.

Bye for now pals fanx for readin ... in da next episode ..... mum and dad get a bedroom complete wiv bed!