I took Scally Waggler out for a cruise on the River Medway last weekend and realised that I had neglected her a bit recently, the bungee balls which hold the canopy fast were a bit less elasticated than they ought to be and she was in need of a good clean.
However, in the usual rush to return home upon mooring I didn’t clean her or switch the bungee balls over for new one’s.
The result is that I’ve learnt my lesson the hard way… It rained hard in the week, and today I returned to her to find that the canopy was gaping and that the cockpit was a giant puddle. Not only that, but because the deck was dirty, the drain holes were blocked! This led to a flooded bilge and rather annoyingly a box full of spare rope and useful bits filling with water.
I spent about 2 hours cleaning the deck, sorting through the box and drying everything, fitting new bungee balls, and unblocking the drain holes (clearing out all the muck that’s built up and flushing the holes through).
A massive lesson learnt though, do not procrastinate with: A) Cleaning the deck, and B) With replacing your rotten bungee balls.
Both are also essential as we head in to Winter and reluctantly make the 1st few steps of Boat Winterisation.
You can buy bungee balls for a great price on ebay – expect to pay about about £5 for 10. I recommend buying a few different sizes, as some pegs will be further away than others and (as I learnt this week) elasticity is essential. Also buy more than you need, so that you have spares.