I don't know quite what has come over us. But now the other 2 radiators are hanging on their brackets in the wheelhouse. The pipe has been ordered and should be here soon.
The next step is checking all the pipe runs, drilling holes through steel bulkheads, oh joy, then joining it all up.
Still got to mount the header tank and the pump, which will probably prove to be completely intractable problems, but no matter, we may yet have heating for the winter.

Now that winter is almost upon us, we have started installing the heating. This is the new technique of almost too late engineering.
We have a diesel stove, with the capability of driving radiators, in fact it has to have radiators or the internal piping gets too hot. We bought 3 radiators some time ago, with the intention of fitting one in the bedroom and two in the wheelhouse. The heater itself being in the saloon and heating that.
Well finally we have installed the first of the radiators, the one in the bedroom. This is actually the most difficult, we think. Since it is against the hull, and just drilling holes through the hull isn't really an option. The other two radiators go against internal steel bulkheads and what is more surfaces that are vaguely square and vertical.
In addition the last bit of the heating is on its way, which is the pipe we are using to connect it all together, that should be here any day.
We may yet not freeze to death this winter.

We were woken up at 4am this morning, by our neighbours from the boat behind replacing our lines. Apparently some (probably) drunken revellers had come along and released the lines on three boats, us and the two either side of us. Our neighbour behind realised what had happened when he heard his boat nudging alongside another boat (us). Something in his subconscious woke him up knowing this wasn't right.
I woke up at the sound of lines being pulled on the back bollards, just above my head, and went out to see what was happening. The boat behind was back in place, and we were nearly back, although only tied loosely and the third boat was floating in the middle, having trouble starting its engine.
Pip got up and we got the lines sorted. The police had obviously been told, because they turned up and in classic Dutch style were immensely warm and conciliatory, which was probably appropriate at that time of day.
The boat in the middle eventually got his engine started and returned to his position.
All the electric cables had been unplugged and had gone in the water, so the police advised us not to use them.
Then we noticed that Pip's bike had disappeared, it had been leaning by the walkway onto the jetty. We decided to ignore it until daylight, assuming that it had been thrown in the water.
All too much for that time of day.

Our huge thanks go to the couple on Dolphin, the boat behind us, and our sympathies to the guys on Jason the boat in front.

As a footnote, the next morning we dried out the electric and that worked and Pip found her bike about 100metres along the bank.

This happened to us once before on Duet at Volendam in 1999. After that we took up the habit of having an extra, unobtrusive line but that is more difficult with Rusty, Duet being so much nearer the water.

The capstan on our Vetus windlass broke due to a faulty casting. We first tried to get a replacement back in June.


The company we bought it from, ASAP, requested Vetus in Holland to get in touch with us. This was our suggestion. After all, Vetus is a Dutch company, we're in Holland, what could be simpler?

After two months of effort on the part of ASAP, and shortly before we went to England, we finally got a contact number for a Vetus representative. He promised to send a replacement.

Now we're back from England - no capstan. He forgot to send it. He will post it immediately.

Three months and counting . . .

Update, September 21
Give him his due, he did send it. Unfortunately the friends who are acting as our Dutch postal address didn't recognise my surname, and sent it back. My turn to appologise. He says he'll intercept it and send it out again.

This one is jinxed, I can feel it.

Update, October 15
Still nothing, so I ring again. He's waiting for me to give him a different address? But we said . . . Oh, never mind, just send it to the same address as last time.

Update, October 20
Apparently there's a package waiting for us. Can this be it at last? Unfortunately it's going to be a while before we can collect the mail.

One of our favourite Dutch cities. And this time we are on the premier mooring, the water berth. There hasn't been a space here for 3 months!

We have a good view of them trying to open the Gravestenen bridge - it keeps sticking. Hitting it with progressively larger and larger sticks seems to be the preferred method, and finally jumping up and down on it. All the while, a couple of barges hovering impatiently on either side.