Its not just boats that rot

You may have noticed more than the average amount of DIY going on at the club recently. This is because in several places the floor was, how shall I put it …. Giving way! You will also have noted the increasing tendency of our microwaves to trip out the electrics, plunging the clubhouse into darkness at inopportune (word for today!) times.

Well, your Management Committee had also noticed these inconveniences, decided enough was enough and called in Bodgett & Son. When Bodgett & Son a.k.a Nigel 'Spanners' Knowles and Mike 'Chisels' Baker ripped up the kitchen floor we discovered that the sink waste pipe ended abruptly four feet in front of the unit and deposited the waste water into the ground. The same pipe was also the outflow from the dish washer. The result was very black, wet, rotten floor joists and one hell of a pong! Everything has now been replaced and a new floor laid. The waste pipe was also renewed and re-routed, so hopefully "Tasty Morsels" won't vanish through the floor while preparing the next annual dinner.

Bodgett & Son then moved on to the bar area, which was next in line for a make-over. Before you could order a pint, 'Spanners' had the sink ripped out along with old water heater, glass washer and our monster antique safe. Some rather stubborn brickwork rapidly followed and again the floor at that end of the bar was renewed.

The end wall was then paneled and a sink unit carcass installed in line with the existing rear bar. A new work surface was then put in covering the whole rear bar from the freezer to the new wall panel. Into this, over the carcass unit, a stainless steel sink unit was set in together with taps ands drains. Under the sink a new water heater was mounted alongside the glass washer. The new under sink plumbing looked like an explosion in a spaghetti factory but 'Spanners' seemed to know what he was doing and, short of a reversed inlet valve and the odd leak or two, it all worked perfectly. During this period Bodgett & Son took on an apprentice by the name of Richard Cannon and the contractors name was temporarily changed to Bodgett.com.

Meanwhile, outside, Bryan Clements was also beavering away painting the safety boat which is beginning to look very spiffy.

At this point 'Spanners' went on strike explaining that in view of Anne's impending birthday they were off to the west country to sample the delights of Rick Stein's at Padstow. A likely story! I think he was so surprised that everything worked he had to take a few days off to recover.

Come the day of the start of season party and our bar manager Mike (make mine a double) Rogers was obviously very impressed with all the alterations because he seemed to spend a lot of time staring around the bar. Only later did I find out that was because he couldn't find anything!

After the start of season festivities Bodgett & Son moved back into the clubhouse and soon had reduced it back to looking like a builders yard. New shelving for the glasses completed the end of the bar. A new laminate floor was then laid (great fun that bit). The roof beams were then paneled in and down lighters installed.

So, as they say, "apologies for any inconvenience" but the above was very necessary and to be fair was mostly done pre-season. Many thanks to everybody involved especially Nigel … great job guys!

The only outstanding jobs now are to put in a new consumer unit and run a ring main into the kitchen area and then take out the skylight in the kitchen, re-make the roof and felt it over on the outside. That should solve the leak problem that has plagued us for some time. Next year maybe we'll think about a new shower!

Mike (Chisels) Baker