A beautifully warm and sunny morning welcomed 3 regular Richmond GGers for a follow up session at the Sea Scouts.

The task was to apply another coat of teak oil to the boathouse doors close by to the White Cross pub, after the task of sanding and applying the first coat on Monday.

We got the job done in super quick time and stood back to admire our handiwork. Then it was off for a refreshing drink in the sunshine and the start of the weekend!

It's that time of year when we head to Richmond riverside for one of our favourite tasks! We have been helping with this for the past six years and it's a fast, rewarding mission. We do it in two sessions with the first taking the longest as we sand and clean the doors before brushing on the teak oil and watching the doors come back to life.

This evening we headed to the boathouse via some exercises on Richmond Green: squatting, lunging, bear crawling and side-stepping our way down towards the river.

Upon arrival at the boathouse we discovered they have recently had significant damage on the doors when a van has seemingly reversed into it and left a tear through the wood and pulled off the locks. It was a sorry sight but it made us more determined to complete the makeover!

With so many hands in action, we completed the task quickly which even left time to head to the pub for refreshment, to see Messi score at the world cup and chat before the warm rain came!

After the heatwave broke, it was time to get a second coat on!

Temperatures hadn't plumetted that much in reality but our task this evening was the complete the task we started three weeks ago: protecting the boathouse doors for the scouts. This evening we headed out to put the second coat of teak oil on.

Starting with a good stretch in the sunshine on Richmond Green, half the group started walking to the river while the other half did interval sprints around the green, getting six sprints in before jogging off to the riverside.

Armed with brushes and oil, the doors were soon looking well-fed and happy, giving us time to go and get well-watered at the busy pub next door before sunset!

Eight wonderful Richmond GoodGymmers were out in the June evening sunshine to help with the annual maintenance of the boat house doors along the glorious Richmond Riverside.

Led by Lucy, the gang took a scenic route past Old Deer Park, along both sides of the river and over two bridges to get to the Boat Houses, where we met Vic from the Boating Scouts, who let us loose on the doors.

We got sanding and scrubbing, and used a cocktail of the finest Thames water and white spirit to clean some of the residual mud at the bottom of the doors. We then wiped the dust down and dried up before the brushes came out! The doors got a lathering of teak oil, top to bottom. Kudos to the taller members of our group for reaching the top bits, and to the shorter members for risking themselves being dripped on for the lower to reach bits!

The scores on the doors were in. We were all winners, when doing good and getting fit in such a fantastic location on such a splendid evening, as you can see from some of Anita’s stunning photos.

In the words of the terminator, ‘Oil be back’… in three weeks time to complete the second coat!

A short but sweet task tonight as we made our way along the Richmond riverside to the boathouses, where we were met by Trevor from the Richmond Boating Scouts. Seven of us were at the annual task of helping to give the arch doors a scrubbing, a sanding and a fresh oiling, ready for the winter ahead.

Block Party

Part one was to give the doors a sanding down. Chris, Liz, Lucy, Adam and Kate armed with sanding blocks started to scour away at the external doors, whilst Monica and Cathy gave the inner side a clean up, and dusted away the cobwebs.

Oil Be There For You

Once cleaned and sanded, we changed from sanding sponges and rags to paintbrushes and pots. Whilst the sun was setting over the Thames, we smothered the doors in teak oil from top to bottom. Kate was on quality control, with Chris and Adam making sure the high bits were painted (and kept a safe distance from Adam’s splash zone, following allegations he was a splatterer when it comes to the paint brush).

Just Let Me A-Door You

Within no time, we stood back to admire the freshly oiled doors, and then turned to admire the stunning orange sky over the water. Trevor thanked us for our efforts, and off we went into the sunset, a Monday night good deed teaked off.

We made a return to the riverside this evening to put a second coat of teak oil on the boathouse doors for the boating scouts. Saturday's Community Mission completed the sanding the first coat so we were able to get straight into the brushing and oiling, completing the job quickly between us all.

Taking full advantage of the location and shorter task, we headed to Richmond Green to continue the fun with some running drills and speed intervals.

All wrapped up nicely with a comprehensive discussion about the Barbie movie as the sun slowly set on beautiful Richmond! 😍