Return of the orange top

Sinking Club 500 racing boats seem to be a bit of a theme at the moment, but for a change I have some good news.

First - after a couple of days drying out in the garage helped by occasional blasts from the hair dryer, everything in the boat is working again. Even the receiver, a part that normally dies when brought into contact with water, is fine. The motor looks a touch rusty but it's only surface stuff on the casing.

Next, walking by  a skip at the bottom of the road I spotted an thick polystyrene off-cut. No one was around so I salvaged it from under the rubble and now big chunks are fixed inside the hull. If the boat is going submarine again, I want to keep as much water out as possible !

This work has altered the trip though. The model is a bit more nose-heavy and needs careful handling in turns or it pirouettes rather than carves through the water. Maybe a little adjustment to the steering will stop this happening in races.

Finally, we have had some fishermen removing carp from the water. Among other things they dredged up was the boat top I lost back in March. It's time on the bottom has left it muddy but otherwise undamaged. A quick clean up in the sink and it will be as good as new. I just hope I don't need to use it again in a hurry !