The painstaking chipping and cleaning of the aft peak tank top continued again this week, this task has been cheerfully undertaken by Pat Brennan ably assisted this weekend by Jack Nulty both of whom are pictured hard at it.

The results of this tremendous effort are absolutely amazing with plates restored to near perfect condition and now painted with a rust inhibitor. There is much work to do before the area can be completely painted with suitable preservative paints, but the finished result should be worth all the hard work and last for a good while.

Far better to do a thorough job now while the deck is lifted rather than afterward when head-room is reduced to just 32 inches!!

.....And Finally, if only to prove I do something aboard apart from take photos and write articles for the web-site, here I am busily cleaning up the connecting rod assembly for the starboard air pump. The pump has already been stripped by John Huxley, Pete Irlam and John Churchill, the pump rods removed for cleaning up and the unit open for examination, cleaning and re-assembly. Considering that this unit is now like the ship herself 103 years old, the condition is magnificent and is testament to the 'over' engineering of the day. They definitely built things to last and the quality of all components is remarkable. Over the years much of the bright-work down below has been neglected or in some cases covered with paint, no doubt to alleviate the need to polish everything when the vessel was in commercial operation. Obviously we plan to restore as much as possible to it's original condition and show all machinery to it's best advantage, so that clean, polished and well lubricated surfaces will be the order of the day. It not only looks right but emphasises the combination of functionality and quality of design used.

 It is a slow process and this particular task took all day to reach this stage, it's a large, heavy piece of machinery, taking two people to lift, but I think it looks a great deal better for the effort. I must have used several yards of emery tape before we tried a wire brush mounted in a power drill plus a little diesel to loosen the dirt, which really did make a difference (thanks to John Deakin for the hint!!)

 As mentioned elsewhere we have 'Makita (UK)' to thank for some new tools which have been most welcome aboard. We have also received tools from another 'household' name company for which we are equally grateful. Right now we cannot fully acknowledge our thanks to this company, but hope to do so when they provide their consent. Suffice to say we very much appreciate any help we receive and will endeavour to acknowledge this support, but only if the company or individual involved is in agreement. We will always strive to comply with their wishes and not seek to gain advantage from their generosity.