The first dry-docking 2001

By Peter Andrews
(All photos by Peter Andrews, except where shown)

Back in Braunston, there was still much work to be done on Raymond

	From 24th to 31st December 2001, Braunston Marina generously gave the Friends of Raymond free use of their large dry dock – an offer repeated in many of the succeeding years. This was their first opportunity to dock the boat since it was launched in March 2000.After a thorough pressure wash, the hull was inspected and found to be in good condition except for some caulking which needed to be replaced – mainly on the side most exposed to the sun…
	… Francis Stapleton swinging his caulking mallet …
	… Alan Palmer filling the seams …
	… John Lee spreading the Black Tar Varnish …
	… Peter Oates sanding …
	… Alan and Iain Mulley sealing the cabin side while …
	… Barbara Ripley (centre) plans the scumbling with Laura Sturrock and Irene Reeves.
	The news that Carlton TV wanted to do a feature on Raymond during the October 2002 Jam ‘Ole Run spurred on the need to get her properly painted.Many people contributed to a mamouth effort to get her dry-docked where Dave and Margaret, of Merlin Narrowboats, gave her a professional paint-job …
	… while Barbara Ripley got on with scumbling the inside of the cabin.
	Ron Hough did the sign-writing (as he had done many times before).
	And not to be outdone, Nutfield also got a make-over from Ron.
	Pete Flockhart put the rope decorations on the Elum . . .
	. . . and finally the cabin interior was painted and decorated with the traditional lacework and lace plates.
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