Back to post 1 Starting the the floor The first post in this series was rather destructive. The floor was torn out, and the deck trim was prised off. This post is more constructive, and covers the first few steps of building a new floor. Fortunately, it was possible to save enough of the original floor to use as a template. Working in this way was much simpler than trying to measure out the awkwardly curved inner profile of the hull!

First Steps In order to keep myself busy whilst locked down, I took on a project of restoring a rather dilapidated, though (in my opinion) charming, and pleasingly-proportioned keelboat. The boat was complete with both a mainsail and a jib and, despite being quite scruffy, actually was sailable. Despite this, the general condition of the boat was quite bad, and it was unlikely to deal well with strong gusts… The boat is a Hanseatic 19.

Abisso Chimera 2011 (trip report) Written as a trip report for the UBSS newsletter – Text in italics is my (attempt!) at translating Florence Ménétrier’s trip report into English. Participants: Fred, Ross, Flo for the Sophitaupes, the Faverjons (Marc, Anne et Maud) and five other Italians. This trip to Abisso Chimera (at 1006m, it is currently the 85th deepest cave in the world) was completed in October 2011. I found myself in the sad position of having finished my degree last year, and not feeling particularly keen on entering the world of work, I somehow managed to install myself in a Ph.

A few weeks ago, I posted to say that I had been sent a travel espresso machine by Handpresso and that I had the intention of taking it on expedition. Well I have now returned and despite several bouts of torrential rain, a path to base camp that was muddy enough to absorb an entire man and a herd of voracious cows that ate their way through an array of hiking clothes, I am pleased to report that the coffee available was second to none.