Island life

I have been asked to supply and run the PA system for a food and drink festival a friend is organizing on Mersea Island in Essex. It looks like the band I play in will play there too so it'll be Altheas first real test of two of the main reasons I have her. I took Althea for a drive down there last weekend to survey the site and to give her a run. She performed remarkably well and we made it in pretty good time despite the heavy traffic. Once there the locals in the tiny ancient village where Bev lives were charmed by Althea. In the morning she attracted a small crowd of admirers. One chap told of his 50 years in the motor trade and how he used to sell Morris LD vans. Another old man with a few boats was delighted by her klaxon and said he'd like to see how she "rolls along".

She sustained a small scrape as I inched her through a 6 foot gap between cottages but otherwise she was fine. The plan was that I would sleep in her that night but I found myself folded up on a tiny sofa with a hangover in the morning instead. The house is 360 years old and so tiny you can knock on the upstairs window by just reaching up (see photo). I'll be trying out the Bass fishing near there soon too.

I've done a few more bits of work on her. The overhead storage has hinges and handle now. The table is made but I'm starting to gather materials for a table top made from resin with all kinds of things embedded in it. Above are some piccys of the work done and the visit to Mersea Island.

I also changed the oil in the generator today which seems to have cured the problem of it cutting out every few minutes.

The weather is warming up and I'm itching to take her camping and fishing.