Brass Monkey Week

Tuesday 26th

Shamrock's bilges are pumped out as despite the fact that she is out of the water they still manage to fill up, something to do with all the rain. Forward cabin is also cleared of all the rubbish that had accumulated during the caulking of the deck. A bit warmer in there than outside.

Wednesday 27th

Shaune's a happy bunny as the problem with the fire-pump has been solved and it ran long enough to clear all the mud from the slipway a foot (30cm) or more from the bottom of the dock. Shamrock's bulwarks appear to have measles as all the exposed patches are primed ready for painting when it gets warmer.    

Thursday 28th

A quick hose down of the slipway to remove the mud that the last two tides had deposited. 
Late morning, break out the mooring ropes and put them in position, remove all Shamrock's shores then, with the aid of a tractor, move Shamrock to the bottom of the slipway and attach the mooring ropes. 

In the Afternoon, while waiting for the tide to come in, cleaned out the boat shed ready for visitors. Also made a quick trip to Cotehele Quay's Discovery Center to check on the state of the display of the salmon fisherman's boat, I feel another project coming on.

Shamrock floated successfully off it's winter cradle on the evening tide, she was then roped across the dock and made fast. She will need a few more week's work before she is ready to receive visitors. Time for a quick pasty and then home to warm up.

Origin of the nautical saying, "Freeze the balls off a brass monkey".

Cannonballs would traditionally be stowed between the guns on a metal lipped tray, made of brass, called a ‘monkey’. In cold weather the brass ‘monkey’ would contract faster than the iron cannonballs causing the balls to spill out and roll around the deck.