One swallow doesn't make a summer.....

[Michael Rogers]

...but one nest-full of swallows can make a mess.

My boat building space is in a barn-type building with one end open. At present I am epoxy coating ply parts prior to hull assembly. I have a 'table' area made of two old doors laid flat on trestles and covered with plastic sheeting, on which to lay parts for coating, in batches.

Up in the roof, immediately above, is a swallows nest. The fledglings are still in the nest, being fed by busy parents flying in and out. From almost every point of view we love having them, and their arrival (from Africa!!) each spring is a thrill. They are beautiful and fascinating little creatures. However...

Immediately below the nest, on my epoxying table, is a drop zone, not very big but in the way. The parents contribute to this and, particularly just now, so do their offspring who, presumably instinctively, stick their little bottoms over the nest edge to relieve themselves (otherwise the nest would quickly fill up with bird poo). The excitement of mummy or daddy arriving back with a beakful of flies seems to provoke a gastro-colic reflex. My activities are punctuated by 'swoop - twitter - plop', and another load (admittedly individually quite small) of semi-liquid bird waste hits my epoxying work - or would do if I had not devised a number of ways of protecting things and working under cover over those few square feet.

Ah well, it's worth it, I suppose. AND this lot will leave the nest soon (there should be a second brood later - what fun!). AND at least they haven't managed to hit me - yet: watch this space.

Probably a silly question - is there any alternative, for epoxy coating activities, to using disposable foam rollers at £1-30 a throw? If not, has anyone identified a relatively cheap source of said articles?

(SP Cadenza + T12 in build)

[Julian Swindell]

Matt told me Swallow Boats got its name because there was a next of swallows in the barn where his father started the business. So you are really working in the authentic Swallow Boats tradition!

[Clem Freeman]

We have swallows in our stables but they occasionaly make a bid to nest in the garage. Have to make sure I keep the doors shut for a while and they give up. The pigeons on the other hand make an incredible amount of mess and once they choose a site to nest are incredibly persistant. Its a constant war of me taking down the nest each day and them rebuilding.

[Clem Freeman]

Anyway back to the epoxy coating. I've been using a brush or the squeegy thing that came with the resin. I assume using a roller means you can get a smoother finish and have less rubbing down of lumps and ridges when hardened. How much is actualy needed to put on, just enough to seal the surface or a thicker coating.

[Michael Rogers]

I have to say the 'Swallow' Boats connection never occurred to me. Anyway they are among my favourite birds. We will say no more about Clem actually discouraging them.....  I don't feel strongly about pigeons, they don't fly back from Africa each Spring.

Clem, I presume your last sentence is missing a question mark. I don't know the answer, and am hoping some clever person will enlighten us. Even with a roller, by the time the parts are sanded again I won't have achieved more than sealing. This stage does go on a bit, doesn't it! I look forward to putting the hull together.

[Anthony Huggett]

I've been using 4 inch gloss paint rollers from Screwfix. They are cheap (£1.99 for 5) but you do need to watch the roller doesn't get too soaked with epoxy - it can exotherm and start to smoke. I keep a bucket of cold water handy!

[Clem Freeman]

Just to clarify, I don't discourage the swallows nesting in the stables/barn but keep the garage doors closed when they are looking for a nesting site. It's the flying rats otherwise known as pigeons. We get lots of them, they're noisy messy and stupid.

[Michael Rogers]

Sorry, Clem, didn't mean to sound censorious about your swallows. They are not nearly as gregarious as house (or sand) martins, they like their own space. But you've obviously got plenty of 'indoors' options for them - and they certainly don't go very well with epoxying etc (let alone painting, when I reach that stage). I agree about pigeons. I want to know how pigeons fixate a clear image from their retinas in the visual cortex when they walk/run. If you watch them, the entire head oscillates backwards and forwards, sometimes very rapidly, as they move. Recipe for visual confusion I would have thought, but they seem to manage.

Thanks for the Screwfix rollers tip, Anthony. The West roller frame is 3'', but I'm sure I can cut the 4" rollers down. Meanwhile I've actually been using sponge brushes. I got a big bargain lot (various sizes) a while back from Rutland, and they work quite well.

(SP Cadenza and T12 in build)