Episode 10: Two Wet Bottoms!
It seemed to take forever to get to this point, but we can finally report that we managed to get both of our bottoms wet last weekend! Yes, the boat has actually sailed!! Getting to that point took a bit of doing though. By the end of Episode 9, we had got most of the jobs on the boat sorted but we were still having serious concerns about the security of the beam fixings. The bolts had gone inin wonky and the helicoils we had previously fitted didn’t feel secure in their holes. Our ideas progressed to dispensing with the helicoils altogether and, after very carefully drilling and tapping vertical (hopefully) holes, we would put ‘timesert’ threaded inserts into the holes and bolt into them. This was felt to be a ‘good idea’ until we realised how much it was going to cost. The timeserts would go out at about £5.00 a pop, plus there was the cost of the tools for two different sizes. The thought of this caused a terrible pain in the back pocket. Fortunately the marvellous people I...