Trying to keep up the enthusiasm for work on Naiad is difficult when the temperature is too cold to work and the recent -7 and -9 Celsius is far too cold to even go outdoors unless you really have to. So I didn't.

Still, yesterday and today were not too bad so I cracked on until my hands grew too cold to work safely.

The inside of the leak was warmed up using the small heater and then I used the penetrating epoxy to soak into the bare wood and to the backing block you can see above.

The lower reinforcing, leak repairing block on the outside was also coated with the penetrating epoxy as I had some left over from doing the inside.

The stainless steel backing plates for the new chain plates were cut and drilled. The holes are deliberately too large so that there is wriggle room when fitting.

The chain plate was screwed and bolted in place with butyl tape used on the join between the plate on the outside and the hull. That's the first. I'll do the second one tomorrow.

This is the view from the inside. There is a nylon washer between the stainless steel plate and the bronze washer just to electrically isolate the two dissimilar metals. I did think about cutting the bolts to the correct length but to be honest, that's a lot of work for something that isn't going to be seen or get in the way of anything so I didn't bother. If it causes an issue later then I'll cut them down.

So, more tasks done.

Time for a cup of tea.