6 weeks non stop have been devoted to upgrading and beautifying Grace. I’m ready for a break. Today delivered some cracking weather, cold, blue and crisp so we got the bikes out. The trip started with a bang. 

There’s a cycle service station along the river here. As we planned to cycle past it, I said to Dave before we set off, I’m going to stop to put air in my tyres. However, the pump wasn’t working properly due to a dodgy washer so rather than put air in, I end up with most of the air out. We hadn’t got a pump with us, but no problem. There’s a bike hire place just round the corner. I’ll pop in and see if I can borrow a pump. 

In I went with my bike. Having explained my predicament, the young lad said, “yeh, no problem, we’ve got an electric pump, fetch your bike over here.” Zzzzzzzz, in goes the air. Until BANG, the inner tube is no more. His face is now the colour of a ripe tomato. His ears are ringing. Poor bloke is mortified. 

It’s not a big deal. It’s a bike shop. They have lots of inner tubes to hand and in no time, I’m up and running again, the lad refusing to take any money for the inner tube, even though he was doing me a favour in the first place. 

He was still exhibiting a little pinky rouge as we left. I felt sorry for him and offered what I hope were kind words, and with air filled tyres we set off on a circular predominately off road route which was steeper and wetter than anticipated meaning we both took our bikes for an initial uphill walk. 

The downhill bit wasn’t much fun either but hey ho, it was good to be out. We headed back to the boat, drank tea, then decided to ride out to the beach along the flat road, just under 6km away. This ride was easy, uneventful and without any loud bangs.

A 45 minute walk on the beach, a return cycle trip and a bag of chips ended the excursion. 

Boatyard life ceased about a week ago however, it’s taken us that time to get things back to normality. Dave has been re-bedding deck fixings as we discovered a few leaks during the 4 days of heavy rain. I’ve had a massive sort out and been in pretty much every locker on the boat. 

Grace’s paintwork looks fantastic. The bow sprit has had a serious overhaul, we have new Coppercoat on the hull, the steering cables and  quadrant have had attention, we have a new chain plate on the bow, the stern gland has been replaced, the sea cocks have been serviced, we have a new depth sounder, the anchors have been galvanised, the ceiling has been replaced in the forepeak and we’re waiting for the material to arrive from overseas for our new upholstery. 

That’s what’s generally been keeping us busy for the last five weeks.