Esper Refit 04 - tent up; filling in a portlight; shrinking chart table

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During after-work beers this week a fellow yachtsman recounted the story of his first refit, many years ago. He was being filmed by a friend who was documenting our hero’s progress, who was explaining the many jobs still to do on the project. As he went through his list his face changed from joy to sadness and then horror as the realisation of the nightmare he had created for himself slowly dawned on him. He told the cameraman to go shove it as he buried his sobbing head in his arms. One month in, will it be the same for us?

Sorry to disappoint those who want to see us suffer, but so far we’re thoroughly enjoying our refit experience. It can be frustrating at times, especially when the boat is wallowing in micro particles of fibreglass and saw-dust, the noise is deafening and you’re constantly itching from all the crap in the air. Fortunately Liz and I are blessed with foresight and positivity: we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, even if it is rather dim…

Quick Summary Video

Not everyone wants to read. It’s a Sunday and you’ve got kids to feed and church to attend, so we’re moving our weekly summary video to the beginning of the post. After watching you can read in more detail below each job, along with lots of pics. (See clip)

Erection Of The Tent

Perhaps the biggest event of the week was the erection of Esper’s circus tent. It took the yard workers (all ten of them) two days to complete and would have had British Health and Safety officers produce litters of kittens.

Like Indian rope climbers, skinny Burmese lads shimmied up poles as their colleagues held on to the bases, mounted in concrete-filled tyres, so the frame could be lowered by the crane and slotted into position. Unfortunately for our trapeze artistes, the lads didn’t always remember to hold on to the poles! At one point one of the lads almost brought down the entire construction as he hoisted himself up an unsupported pole and brought the thing down horizontal to the boat.

The frame was pretty much in position by the end of the first day, so the second day was spent throwing heavy tarps over the framework.

Gotta say these boys, the same ones who fitted our cradle in the slip and hoisted us out, work as hard as anyone else, despite the fact they’re the ones working in midday heat. Needless to say they’re all pretty fit.

This clip is to accompany the blog post on our refit. You can see the complete blog post here: http://followtheboat.com/2014/03/02/esper-refit-week-4/ and of course you can subscribe to our updates here: http://eepurl.com/B9Ykn