After such a fab session last weekend, we headed back to the Arts Barge to carry on with the spruce up. Most of the activity was focused around removing weeds from the landing.

GoodGymmers were armed with hoes, shovels and brushes as we gathered the unwanted growth and got it bagged up, ready to be taken away

Meanwhile, Michael was busy on fire duty, getting rid of the wooden debris we'd gathered last week and burning it on top of a bonfire worthy of any scout leader

Other notable activity included Nick being well chuffed with his saw, and Fergie falling out with the Art's Barge's dog, Frieda

After the task was completed we sat in front of the bonfire for a few beers as the night drew in

It was all hands on deck as we teamed up with the lovely guys from the Arts Barge for the first time, but certainly not the last.

We arrived to a very comprehensive task list and soon began getting stuck in. The majority of the team began clearing debris from the landing and shifting the gangplank (not entirely sure if these are the correct nautical terms but they sound legit). Meanwhile the rest of the crew got on board with clearing the barge's deck and giving it a good sweep.

The most interesting task was snapped up by first mates Hannah and Leanne who were clearing rubbish (mostly loaves of bread) out of the water around the barge, using a basket attached to a rope and basically playing a life-size game of the claw-grabby things you get in seaside arcades. The basket wasn't going to cut the mustard with the floating sleeper and door which required a more novel approach involving floating it further down to some steps where we could just about reach into the water and rescue them

We managed to get a great deal of work done, much to the delight of the task owners, but there's still plenty more that needs to be done before the barge is ready to figuratively set sail again. So keep an eye on the listings for the arts barge mk.2