Hither and thither

Since life hasn't changed much since my last blog, I'm adopting Roger Distill's suggestion about the title of this one. I am indeed going hither and thither between Zeeland and Rotterdam, a journey necessitated by the two inanimate, but mobile loves of my life, the Vereeniging and the Hennie H. Poor Koos. I think I spend more time with them than I do with him at the moment, although we do at least share the load for the HH.

Thanks to all of you who commented last time about the potdeksel. Don of Don and Cathy Jo came up with a very apt suggestion of a 'cap rail', but just to be sure we're talking about the same thing, I'm posting these two photos of the HH. The red/grey painted part on the top rim of the hull is what we call the potdeksel. I'm pretty sure we agree on what it is, so in future a cap rail is what I'm going to call it.

The reason that it's both red and grey in these photos is that I was/am in the process of stripping and repainting it. I'm happy to say all the grey undercoat is finished on both port and starboard now and I started doing the final topcoat today; that is, until a freak cloud came over and it started raining. Such are the frustrations of boat maintenance. I'll probably have to do it all again tomorrow to repair the rain damaged parts. Ho hum. Boats? You have to love them more than yourself...really you do.

As for the engine, Koos is making steady progress, but the electrics are proving quite a challenge. We're hoping he'll manage to untangle the system before long. The arrival this morning of a new main switch for the battery seemed to cause great excitement, so I'm holding everything crossed that we'll be starting and testing our little Peugeot motor before too long.

As for the other floating love in my life, the Vereeniging, I'm immensely proud to say I've finished scraping all the paint off the stern roef or aft cabin as you might say in English. I wish I'd taken a photo of it, but when I finished last Sunday I was just so hot I could only think of getting inside and washing myself down. Which reminds me. The weather! My goodness. It's been positively sub tropical here in the Netherlands. If it's not blisteringly hot, it's pouring with monsoon like rain. Very strange weather patterns for this small maritime country. It's like being in Durban, not Rotterdam.

So how does a Val cool off in such conditions. Well, if I'm in Zeeland, I take my trusty steed and go for a ride. I absolutely love cycling around the dykes, but most of the time it means waiting for the bridge. I'm used to it and really don't mind at all, but it's an exception if I can cross over without stopping.

Once I'm on my way, though, the views are worth it. I took the photo below a while ago, but today's clouds have been just as dramatic and heavily laden. It was one like this one that tipped its load on my fresh paintwork today.  When I'm in Rotterdam, though, a quick spin up the riverside or a walk around the inner harbours also does the trick.

One thing I haven't mentioned much recently is what's going on in the Netherlands with the virus. Well, it's both bad and good. Testing is now available for anyone who wants to go for one and the result is that the number of positive cases have risen quite substantially. Unfortunately, Rotterdam seems to be the epicentre for this upsurge and when I was there at the weekend, I could understand why. Young people are paying little heed to the advice to keep a distance and are partying as they would during any normal summer. There's a club over the road from the Oude Haven and I watched them queuing up at the entrance on Saturday night with no regard for personal space, let alone the 1.5 metre requirement. 

On the upside, although hospitalisations have increased, it's not dramatic and the mortality rate remains low. I'm no expert and I don't go into things in great depths, but many people I've spoken to believe the the numbers are now mostly youngsters who are testing positive. I don't know if this is true, but like everyone I'd prefer to see the figures falling, not rising, as I think we all would. I've just adopted the policy of looking after my family and myself. I avoid busy places and contact with strangers. Luckily, in our boaty world, that's quite easy to do.

As for our hoped for visit to northern France, we're just monitoring the situation at the moment. Maybe we'll go; maybe we won't. Watch this space!

Have a great week allemaal and look after yourselves. I'll be back soon!