A whole day in Banbury, painting upside down and relay installed

Banbury's a nice place, isn't it? We think so. Before leaving the boat, though, I put a coat of International Fire Red on the tunnel band. I knew this was going to be "interesting" as I was going to have to do it by leaning over the rear deck. I managed not to drop the brush, but I don't think I've done a very good job. I was disappointed with the quality of the paint. At Debdale Wharf two years ago I blagged some red paint for the tunnel band. That paint went on superbly. It was thick enough to require only one coat, and covered all the blemishes. Today's International Toplac paint will need three coats, with a day between each one. Tomorrow looks like being another fine day but I believe rain is forecast for Wednesday.

While the paint was drying we explored the town centre, which was more interesting with the shops open. I was tempted by an ancient large ex-BBC ammeter in an antiques place, but eventually decided against it. It would have overpowered the boat rather. By "large" I mean about one foot diameter and six inches deep! It had a lovely movement though, going up to 75A. No way of knowing whether it worked, and it looked like the shunt was built-in. I should have taken a photo - I'm sure the man would have let me.

What I did take a couple of photos of was the interior of St. Mary's Church.

It has an amazing domed interior which my camera can't really do justice to.

We also walked to the retail park on the northern edge of the town, visiting Aldi and Home Bargains.

Back at the boat I started to install the relay in the domestic alternator wiring. Thanks to blog reader Dave Ward I knew exactly what to do, but it all takes time, doesn't it? We ate at Wetherspoons (both having the mixed grill); on returning I finished the job but haven't been able to test it properly as it was well gone 8pm.

Tomorrow I'll change the oil and possibly wire up a dedicated voltmeter for the starter battery. Oh, and give another coat of paint to the red tunnel band.