Boaty McBoatface is back on the water
Our old rowboat has been sitting upside down in the backyard for at least 15 years. Today I figured I'd scrub it clean, fix it up and put it back on the water.
Well, I didn't scrub it because I'm lazy 🙂 But I did buy two new oars. The old oars were almost completely rotted, but I could have used them, were it not for the fact that they weren't the same length.
Why you ask? Because the previous owner was such a miser that when one oar broke, instead of buying a new one, he sawed off the splinters - knocking a good foot off the oar - then wrapped what looked like an old computer power supply chassis around the two ends and drove a bunch of nails in his impromptu metal patch:
It's surprisingly solid actually. But it's level 11 cheesy. So... I bought new oars, which are probably worth more than the boat.
The boat isn't in very good condition, but it's not too bad considering its age and how long it's spent outside. Apparently it was made in 1981 and it's been well used before being essentially left outside to rot. The oarlocks are almost completely spent, but I can't replace them because they're not standard. And it has water sloshing around inside where no water should ever get. But other than that, it floats:
https://giraut.github.io/360_photography/boaty_mcboatface_is_back_on_the_water.htmlOpen linkView original on piefed.social
Plenty of room for a cooler stocked with your beverage of choice. How was the water?
Chilly 🙂 It's chilly year round here.
As for the cooler and the beer, I will bring that along eventually - with the fishing rod too probably. But today was dedicated to figuring out whether it floats or takes on water.
And it very nearly did take on water, because the previous owner was also too cheap to buy a proper rubber stopper for the drain hole, and carved one out of wood. Sometimes you have to wonder how people can be this cheap... Luckily, I saw it before setting off and replaced it with a proper bung.
Yeah a sloppy bung is never worth the risk.
Where's here? (or at least, what zone?)
Arctic circle.
What do you do for a living? It looks like an awesome place. Can I live with you? I don't require a lot of maintenance.
But I am high maintenance 🙂
Conceptually i actually quite like the home-mended oar using junk parts already available on hand. But since it had significantly reduced functionality then yeah it's replacement time
gotta start somewhere