This week we continued our quest to gather quotes and book in the big boat jobs. We also bought a car to make journeys to the boat easier, we moved across London to a new Airbnb apartment (AGAIN), tinkered about on Odin and barbecued with our new island neighbours.

Waiting for a new boat home is an exercise in patience. It’s not a quality that comes easy for me. I would love to throw myself entirely at the project – overalls and spanners at the ready! – but the old day job is getting busier by the hour. Multiple plates must keep spinning.

Odin on the other hand, is sitting ever so patiently on the hard standing, peacefully waiting for the professionals to take over. We visit every weekend to tinker and cast a fond eye over our future floating friend.

I’ve become quite attached. I’m feeling much more relaxed swinging and tinkering around her decks, balanced high on her blocks in the boat yard.

The pigeon box is one such tinker: a 2ft squarish wood and glass window box that sits above the roof of the kitchen and saloon. It’s a beautiful and somewhat rotten, cobwebby feature of Odin, so I had a poke around on Sunday to see if I could salvage anything from the encroaching damp.

I’m still undecided whether it’s worth resurrecting or whether we should buy a new one. Google will be consulted thoroughly for alternatives this week.

We also had the pleasure of meeting our fabulous island neighbours at a BBQ in our honour yesterday. I was so excited to share a drink and a chatter with this interesting and varied bunch.

Hearing stories about times of flood; how to plan a long kayak home from Westminster; how to check the environment agency for fast water flows in the winter months; how to endure the dark months and relish the summers; advice for buying a tender to ferry us from the island to the shore; and what to do when you eventually end up “in the drink” (apparently inevitable). I was blown away by this strong, supportive community. We simply can’t wait to join in their adventures.

It’s looking like we won’t be moving onboard for another 3-4 weeks, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up being a bit longer. The list of things to do is ever-growing.

One of our neighbours on the island told me a story about their friend’s boat. Said friend named it ‘Another 6 Weeks’, in honour of its ever-creeping schedule. Another neighbour told us a ‘boat week’ is 10 days long.

“It took exactly the amount of time I planned”, said no-one ever.

After the BBQ, a couple of our awesome neighbours dropped us back on the mainland and I turned to steal a look at our future home in the twilight. I snapped a pic and wondered if we might be the luckiest boat newbies alive.

It’ll be more than worth the wait.