The Long Winter Nights.........

Still working lots of daft hours, hence the lack of updates. Still, less than a week till Christmas and I'll only have one job then.......

Scott has been spending lots of time down in the engine room, freeing off and oiling up the main engine and looking at the electrics. The donkey engine starts every time now, and he's had the main engine turning over. Can't fire it up properly without being in water - guess what Scott will be doing Christmas Day!

Talking of Christmas Saff has put her "order" in to Father Christmas - hope Playmobil have sent lots of stuff to Lapland this year!

Last Monday the tide was in when I returned from work at the pub. In an effort to get me out of The Concle so they could go to bed Phil and Carolyn kindly lent me some waterproof trousers and wellingtons. Scott said the water would be up to my knees so off I set to paddle to the boat. The words "up to my knees be buggered!" issued from my mouth as the water lapped around my bum. Needless to say the waterproof trousers and wellys didn't keep me dry!
Tuesday, tide in again, waterproof trousers and wellys still on boat drying off, but I thought it can't be any worse than yesterday so set off to paddle in my ordinary trousers and crocs on the basis I could get dried off when I got home. Famous last words.......It was worse, up to my waist this time and icy cold. I stood panicking for a while because I could see a rock and couldn't work out what it was. Scott stood on deck trying to calm me down and shout encouragement.
On Wednesday I decided I obviously can't walk on water and decided to sit in the car for two hours rather than risk hypothermia for a third night running.

The upshot of all this was I spoke to Carolyn at the pub and Phil brought the dingy he's been promising we could borrow.

So on Friday Scott and Saff went out thinking I was getting paid from Gamestation. However I'd been given the wrong date so they couldn't get any money out of the bank. The tide was in, the idea was that by time Scott and Saff had done all the shopping etc they would be able to get aboard but because I hadn't been paid they couldn't go shopping.
We decided to test out the dingy.............
First of all Scott suggested I try to throw the oar to him, tied onto a rope. I used to be quite good at the javelin at school but my skills failed me this time. I suggested I untie the dingy and let it drift towards Scott, I had to tie a longer rope onto the rope that was on it so I could keep hold. The dingy eventually got to Scott and I pulled him back to the boat so he could collect the oar. From that moment onwards the plan deteriorated, Scott rowed back to shore to pick Saff up, shouting instructions to me about which way to pull the rope to guide him away from rocks. He got Saff safely into the dingy and I pulled while Scott rowed to get them round to the ladder.
By this point we were both freezing cold and communications broke down entirely, I couldn't hear what Scott was shouting and kept crashing them into the ladder whilst he was trying to go past it. Abort! Abort! Abort! The only choice available to us once they'd crashed into the ladder so much it was floating around and no longer safe to climb up - good job Scott keeps it tied to the boat! So they rowed back round to shore and bailed out in The Concle until the tide went out. Saff enjoyed the ride anyway, adrenaline junkie that girl!

All work and no play.....

All work and no play makes the Vita Nova website somewhere that's not updated very often!

Not much been going on to be honest - the weather has pretty much stopped work outside for the moment and Scott has spent loads of time inside pottering.

Today (actually just looked at the time - it was yesterday) Scott got the donkey engine going!!!!!
He was down there and there were the usual grinding noises as he turned the handle. Suddenly the noise changed and was accompanied by cheering from downstairs.

He dropped me off at work then came back and started her up again - the test now is whether she starts tomorrow when she's cooled down!

Scott's just popped out to check the TV aerial, it's extremely windy and the TV went off, he came back in going "It had my hat!", so if you see a grey "Thinsulate" hat around it's Scott's please return it!. Last seen heading towards Ireland - and we don't mean Roa!

PS
Couldn't publish this post last night, the internet was having trouble communicating. So may as well add to it.

The engine works again today, Scott said it was harder to start but that may be because he did it in the morning when he hasn't got his reserves of energy built up.

Call off the search for Scott's hat - he found it on the deck this morning so it didn't make it to Ireland, Roa or any other!