The caterpillar has entered the chrysalis

Though it would appear that we have done NOTHING on our project for the whole of the summer, the truth is more mundane. The day after our barge was delivered and installed back in April (May? I honestly don’t remember) we had a static caravan delivered (just an empty box really) and we’ve been sorting that. I think there’ll be a blog post about it which you can read (if you like reading caravan articles) as a little side story, but for now it’s back to the main event.

As the barge is basically a large metal bath-tub and was floating when we bought it, it’s right to assume every time it rains it fills up with water. To allow us to work on the project all year round we needed to find a way of keeping it under cover and out of the elements – Lynne (Mrs. Noah) had the genius idea of getting a horticultural polytunnel to sit over the entire structure way back when we were still clearing the site so one was duly purchased and has been sitting at the back of the plot in pieces for well over twelve months.

Polytunnel frame over barge — Our extended polytunnel frame sitting over the barge

We were smart enough to mark out the frame positions before the barge was delivered so we could make sure everything was square. The site’s a bit challenging as one side on the frame is anywhere from a few inches to over a metre lower than the other and the whole site is on a gradient as well. To counter this we made frame extensions out of scaffold poles, cut them each to length before installing them in position to form a totally level foundation for the curved polytunnel frame.

The frame itself went up over the barge easy enough – pulling the polythene over was a good lesson in teamwork and losing your dignity! We waited for the least windy and dry day we could and laid out the polythene sheet down one side of the frame. To pull it over we slung ropes across the frame from the far side and tied them to the only thing we could find to grip the plastic sheet without damaging it- skirt hangers! Yes, you know the ones, the sort that have a sprung top to grip the skirt so they can be hung in the wardrobe.

Barge under cover — The ghostly outline of our barge, waiting to emerge one day…

With the aforementioned dignity slipping away and a breeze picking up we set to work, hauling the the polythene over the frame, moving the ropes to a new position before doing another section (the frame is about 30m so there was a lot to get covered). After a few hours our rusty caterpillar was covered and an afternoon of earth moving had the plastic sheeting secured down around the edges – doors were put in a day later and all is now set for works to begin.

The next time our barge will emerge into daylight from its plastic chrysalis it will be a fully transformed butterfly of an upcycled home…