Having got the anti rust primer on, we had protected Bartimaeus from further damage but it all looks a bit patchy. The paint prefers a higher temperature and there was a little frost on the ground but Shane concluded that by midday it would be a good temperature to paint and in the meantime we could move along the canal to places where there were more turning places for doing the other side. It was very sunny so it looked a good day for being outside.

As we went along we got a good view of the chimney at the Pumping Station we had visited yesterday and the smoke from the chimney advertised that there was another Steaming Day today.

As I was taking pictures a man coming with his dog over a bridge stopped to watch the boat and patted the bridge wall to encourage his dog to come up to get a good view too.

 We moored at Willington, had lunch and started painting. I did a little sanding of the rougher bits while Shane cracked on with painting since mostly we could paint directly on. Shane did the dark blue and I did the small amount of lighter blue. Once we had done we could move on through Willington to a place to turn the boat. There are a lot of boats in Willington, many now looking familiar since we have been on this stretch for a while and the canal is blocked just along from here so other boats cannot make progress until the works on the railway bridge are finished. I was reminded again that we will be off to Scotland soon, when I saw this boat.

While he turned, Shane’s helmsmanship was admired by a man on the towpath and he proceeded to reverse past another boat and into position for the other side. Luckily there was very little wind today. We are now facing the right way to go in to the marina tomorrow.

We had to take care setting off and mooring with wet paint around. Quite a lot was on the gunwhale along the towpath side and so while we were going along I had climbed on the roof on the far side (luckily that’s the side with a folding step) to move the fender as it was impossible to reach it without rubbing on fresh paint otherwise. Once in position Shane could get on with the other side. It didn’t take long.

Shane was pleased he had made a better job than last time (in October) of stirring the paint as it had come out a much better colour. The colour was so good that I failed to see the newly painted bit on the bow when I was positioning myself to put the light blue on. I just felt it sticky as I moved my hand. It did scrub off okay and Shane didn’t seem upset that he had to redo that bit.

 We had finished in time to cycle in to Derby to collect our train tickets. It was nice to have a whizz in the sunshine under the blue sky after a mainly slow moving day. Spring flowers were out and rain is forecast tomorrow afternoon so it really felt like good use of the day.