1917 - 2011

Last week we said goodbye to our father. the following is a copy of the citation he received when he was awarded his DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross)

BYERS, Flying Officer, Ian Hamilton, DFC.

NZ428186; Born Shannon, 30 September 1917; RNZAF 16 July 1942 to 24 December 1945; Pilot.

Citation Distiguished Flying Cross (Imm) (2 March 1945): [61 Sqn RAF (Lancaster)]

Also DFM – F/S G F Cartwright, 1800047, RAFVR, Wireless Operator.

One night in December, 1944, this officer was pilot in an aircraft detailed to attack Giessen. Just as the bombs had been released a shell burst very close to the aircraft which sustained much damage. A few minutes later, the bomber was struck by a stream of bullets from an enemy aircraft. The mid-upper gunner was killed. His turret was set on fire, the port wing also caught alight, sending a long trail of flames along the fuselage. The wireless operator (air), with complete disregard of his own safety, made great efforts to subdue the flames in the mid-upper turret. His hands were burnt but he worked heroically. Finally he succeeded in quelling the flames. Fortunately, the fire in the port wing had now died down. Thereupon Flying Officer Byers, who, during the most harassing period had displayed the greatest coolness at the controls, decided to attempt to reach allied territory. Ably assisted by the fixers the wireless operator obtained on his wireless apparatus, he reached an airfield where he effected a safe landing in the face of great difficulties. This officer displayed skill and courage of a high standard.

What I've been Doing

The boat has had to take a backseat for quite a few weeks, as I've been rebuilding my daughters and son in laws, very old cottage in wellington.
Old is a bit of an understatement, it was almost terminal, everything had to be done, new walls electrics, plumbing and on and on.
The electrics and plumbing, will be at the first fix stage by the end of next week, well that's the plan.
The boat is supposed to be in the water by now...

What a Week!

It started with some Irish friends coming for a visit, they had been staying in Lyttelton (the epicentre of the big NZ earthquake) unfortunately they were delayed in Wellington for a couple of days due to David ending up in Wgtn hospital, very fortunately as it turned out.

They missed being in the middle of NZ"s biggest disaster by 2 hours.

When I phoned to find out how they were, David was being given a speeding ticket halfway on the way back to Christchurch.
You could say 'just the luck of the Irish!'

A Bit of History

Just a couple of pics to show how far 'TC ' has moved along.

New Portholes

The progress on the 'project' has moved on with the fitting of the replacement portholes and the repainting of the topsides, there's still a lot to do, the main hatch has now been rebuilt, the hull still needs painting and the new electronics need to be fitted.





The boat project is now moving a bit slower as I have taken on another part time project of restoring a cottage in Wellington, I'm a sucker for a challenge but this one has a firm time frame, that's the end of March(2011!)

Early Start to Summer

Working on the inside of the boat has been a bit of a mission over the last 2 weeks, as summer in NZ has started early, with temperatures inside TC getting up to about 35c!.
The heads are now white, not the trendy 80's cream, it could have been worse, avocardo, how tastes change...

Thursday's Child

Thursday's Child poem

Mondays child is fair of face,
Tuesdays child is full of grace,
Wednesdays child is full of woe,
Thursdays child has far to go,
Fridays child is loving and giving,
Saturdays child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.

The Name

This is one of the most serious discussions Mr & Mrs DIY have had about our boat project, to change the name of Thursday's Child of Lee, or leave it as it is.
The names considered were - Crispy Bacon (a family joke) and it related to this boats past, Duamara - a name that had a lot of memories for Mrs DIY, Indecision III - the name speaks for itself!
The first one was ruled out as being to 'cute', the second still a possible, the 3rd I ruled out as I got sick of people asking me who was the indecisive one! - the name of our last boat was Indecision II.
So at this point it looks as though we will keep it as Thursday's Child - I quite like the song and Mrs DIY, the poem.

Portholes and More

The portholes are slowly being replaced,-(finished yesterday!) the system I'm using/used is to replace the aluminium framed units with pieces of 6mm dark grey acrylic cut to shape and glued and bolted to the outside of the deck using Sika 259Uv adhesive. - it gets everywhere, with the added bonus of the black primer melting my gloves - I now have a couple of very attractive black fingers...

It's a bit fiddly doing without help, one large porthole means at least 20 trips down below to move the nut clamps - a compulsory step aerobic class.
The end result looks ok- I think almost as good as the original and the boat now has sunglasses.

The inside is moving along, with the first coating of varnish, now applied, the next section of the refit is the upper bulkhead (ceiling), we are covering it with wood (tongue and grove), this will cover the fittings, wiring and hold the insulation and LED lights in place.

The next challenge will to be to sort out the wiring, although the switchboard was completely demolished in the fire, all the wiring which was below chest level is ok, if a bit messy in parts, being sprinkled with sticky melted vinyl.

Woodworker

I was trying to decide how I was going to cut the new curved sections that go on the ends of the bulkheads and doors (hatches) and had decided to ask the local joiner if they would be able to cut them out of the timber that I would supply.
No problem, in fact they let me do it myself using the equipment in the factory - it's nice living in a small village.
The boss said come back anytime if I needed to use any of the equipment.