Blacking her Bottom!!

We were quite excited to see Leo out of the water as we have owned her for more than 3 years now and it was time to dry dock her to have her bottom blacked.  We had this done at Snaygill Marina near Skipton and we were impressed with their work.  First the pictures before the job was done:

 Here's the back view, though this had been wire brushed by the time we got there.

We have got quite a big propellor so it is no wonder Leo goes so well on rivers when there is plenty of water under her baseplate.

And here is the front end before it was wire brushed.  The finish was not too bad with only spots of rust so we opted for the same product as before - Rylard Coflex.

And here is the starboard side before the job was done.














One minor aggravation with our boat was that she has a 'hook' at the front end which tends to gather any floating weed to form a 'moustache' at the bow.  So we wanted to do something to improve her profile in that respect.

Here is the picture before.  The baseplate extends forward to create a prominent hook.  We discussed cutting this off or welding a piece in the gap but in the end opted for a compromise (and cheaper) remedy of building up the gap with fibreglass - like repairing a car bodywork.

And here is the result after blacking over the top.  Let's hope it works, but if it doesn't we can always have something else done next time she comes out of the water.










And now for the 'after' pictures of the blacking:

From the stern.

And the bow.

Leo in the Dry Dock.  Walking around her you really get to understand how much is below the waterline.

We were sharing the Dry Dock with 'Me and My Shadow' which moors at Snaygill.













Yesterday we went to see Leo back in the water:

A lovely shiny clean bow ....

...... and a very smart stern after some repainting too.













It is good to have the boat closer to home.  It only takes us about 45 minutes to drive over.  We've done a number of jobs since we stopped boating for the winter and have only a few more bits and pieces to do before next season.

And now back to the planning for where we go next year.

Happy Christmas to all those who've found their way to this posting.  See you next year.