Pictures as promised

Some pictures taken of whats left of the Azalea as well as the scalloper the Rebecca McLean about to be destroyed due to the decomissioning scheme.  I'm pretty much disgusted with the fact that this actually went ahead... Read my rant for my thoughts....

Whats left of the Azalea after being destoyed in the decomissioning scheme.

Another couple of pictures of whats left of the Azalea

 The Rebecca McLean.  There is not a thing wrong with this hull, no damage what-so-ever! A few hundred thousand hours of craftmanship about to be destroyed forever because of beuocracy (As far as I can see!)

More hull pictures.

The wheelhouse and shelterdeck awaiting cutting up....

The Rebecca McLean about to be torn to bits as per the rules of the decomissioning scheme.

More scrap from the Azalea.

The Lady! on the first half decent day this year.

Pictures taken over the last week of the destruction of the Rebecca McLean a Scalloper being decomissioned in the latest round of the Goverment schemes.  Rant to follow!

Its been a while....

My apologies for not writing up for such a long time.  I have been 'shirking' my responsibilities for a wee while due to having hurt my sodding back again.... Not going there with tales of 'daring do', Ive a F*^&%d back and that's all there is to it life revolves around that.

Well as to whats been happening??  The Lady is still siting almost exactly where I left her two months or so ago.  She has had a daily check on her with an occasional clamber aboard.  She is still at a hellish angle and has got a nice layer of green slime over her making her pretty torturous to get over.  She is looking much cleaner inside so the change in angle has cleaned a lot of the garbage out of her that had accumulated over the previous ten months or so.  She is going up onto the long awaited legs on the next tides in a coupe of weeks.  The engineers are making plates to help spread the weight of the boat on the joists and the delivery of the pine 6x12 legs are semi arranged for then as well.

I plan to use 4 six inch by 12 inch legs that are 15 feet long.  The idea is to use 2 planks bolted together to make one leg.  These will be held in place with two 30mm high tensile (Galvanised) steel bar lengths (A metre is hopefully enough).  I'm going to drill the hull through both the heavy stringer that runs below the deck beams (Yes I know there is a name for this but I'll be damned if I can remember it..sorry Sandy!) and then directly through the rib above deck level.  I'll do this at approximately midships to give maximum benefit to the forces of leverage.

I should say something about the plates as well here.. These are basically made up of 10mm mild steel. They are 12 inches by 12 inches with a 32mm centre hole for the tensile steel and also two 10mm locator's holes for holding them in place while everything gets bolted together.  Its worth noting that because I am doing 99% of this myself you have to think ahead as to how to make life easy for yourself, things like locator's holes mean the difference of things going out of alignment and you losing months off your life cursing and swearing! I'm a believer in doing things once and doing it right.

On the deck and engine side of things.  Bob from Ardishaig (an Engineer Mentioned I have  before) is still after a hydraulic pump from the front of the engine.  In exchange for this Bob is going to lance off some of the derelict and corroded steel work as well as possibly remove the engine if I can open the deck up and prepare the area in time.  He has got himself a lorry with hi-ab that will do the lifting and also take the excess material to the dump.

I have to say a huge thank you here to the skipper of the Rebbecca McLean, who's boat has recently been decommissioned.  He kindly let me go over the boat after she was broken up to get a few parts.  It cant be easy to have people like me looking for a bargain whilst you look upon your life's wok being destroyed because of bureaucracy.  I'm going to rant about the whole decommissioning thing separately as its a crime as far as I am concerned and it certainly is not the fisherman's fault!
Anyway, I managed to get one of her fuel tanks and some other various bits and peaces including, 9 jubilee clips, a tin of black paint, 3 lengths of chain, 5 heavy ropes (Braided as well as ordinary) 3 stainless steel knives (OK they were cheap looking things, I took three that were relatively clean but left at least 20!), a 15 foot stainless steel hold ladder and a couple of wee fittings that were loose.  Oh! and a fishery officer deterrent stick (Story in a second!).
I honestly felt like I was picking over a corpse, if that's how one feels like of course, it wasn't nice but I felt that I was in a position that I would never be in again.  Its not everyday that a boat is decommissioned on your doorstep.

I had hoped that I might have been able to get the helm, as you may know the Lady's was stolen.  But the wheelhouse had already been destroyed so I missed it.  I do hope to get the steering hydraulics though, however I have been advised that it will not fit a standard helm control.

As to the 'Fishery Officer Deterrent stick', as you may or may not know. i was a fishery officer in the home port of the Rebeca McLean.  I used to have collect log sheets as a matter of course from some vessels as they used to play the game of 'forgeting'..... Anyhow... I traipsed aboard the R M asking for said log sheets and here in the wheel house was a hardwood full size sledge hammer handle.  I joked about it being for unruly crew..he joked back about deterring fishery officers looking for log sheets! Touche' methinks
Any way that hardwood handle is now pride of place at my front door for any unruly sales.... sorry its in the workshop as a talking point for the future!

Well back the the lady,  Its caulking tomorrow (Again).  The tides are pretty good just now and the weather is mild so I'm going to make the most of the opportunity and attempt to get some of the work done that was lost during the bad weather. 

A rant and some pictures coming soon!!

The Lady Evelyn or the Bountiful SO 424 her story, her history

I have been led to believe that there has been some discussion locally about the boat.
   
Of course I can understand why, as for the main and most obvious reason is the fact that she is town centre (ish!) and is probably one of the most photographed vessels in the world... even today its cloudy, cold and yet there are people taking pictures for their own use  for whatever reasons.

So I suppose I could give a little detail about her and a wee bit of her history.

First of all, she was built in Dingle, launched in August of 1972 and called the Bountiful (SO424).  She is 59 feet long and her beam is 19.5 feet, made of Oak and has Oroco planking with Larch decking. 
She had a GRT (Gross registered tonnage) of 48, we think that she may be nearer 80 actual.
We think that she was renamed the Lady Evelyn in 1994 and had a larger engine (330 Pi-od or Pyeod) put into her by Tyrells of Arcklow in 1985. 

From the research it seems that her wheelhouse was changed in killybegs around 1999 and she went from three windows forward to five. 

She seemed to have a gear change around then for fishing for Herring (and probably any other pelagic species as well).  Before that she was Gill Netting and (I believe) Seine netting as well.

Thats a bit of the history so far, when we get the website up and going I will build a proper timeline along with photo's and explain in more detail the information I have so far.

Thanks to John Baird for most of that.  John is a marine artist and his site is  -

http://www.bairdart.net/

John used to steam the West Coast both Fishing and on Coaster's and knows a huge amount about the Fishing fleets, Irish and Scottish, both past and present.   John has also supplied a cracking picture which he has kindly allowed me to reproduce (and I will do later on in the blog).

Right, so thats a wee bit of her history now as to her future.

Originally we had planned to take her out the water at the local boatyard.  Unfortunatly they are unable to take out anything over 50 or so tonnes.  They have tried with the Lady Evelyn before I had anything to do with her but, I had a cunning plan to allow the Lady to dry out for a couple of weeks and trying to do it again as her GRT is 48 and technically they should be able to do it.  However,  I miss interpreted what the yard had said about where she could lie in order to dry out before the lift and in reality there is nowhere for her to go for that to happen (Her drying out that is).

So the next idea is to put her on legs and keep her somewhere safe on a beach, until the next plan can be put into action.  

The main problem, as with any project, is money.  If we had some, then for a mere £25K she would be away and repaired professionally in a yard and returned in a few months with everything sealed up (But no engine or steering, budget another £15K or so for that!), but since we dont , we have to do her as a long term project ourselves until funds are available or I win the lottery.

This is where we, as well as those watching with interest, have to be patient.  Things will happen as we can afford them.  Also we have to rely on goodwill from people with boats and the like in order to move her, we need to ba able to fit around them rather than them around us.

Oh! to have money!!

The aim of the whole project is to preserve the vessel for the future, she was built by hand and lets face it, few of these are ever likely to be built again.   Certainly she could be used as a wreck for divers (as I know that very nearly happened), but it would be criminal to let that happen without a fight.  

Ok, I will leave it at that for today.  I'm suffering a bit with the old 'sore back' and buggering around on the laptop is killing me..

If you have any questions, please by all means e-mail, comment or get in touch and I'll explain what's going on.  I know that there has been some real rubbish talked about this boat and whats happening if nothing else we get a laugh about it!!

It has been a while since I have been able to do anything on this 'blog' basically because I chose to update my system to Google 'Chrome' as well as upgrading to Internet explorer 9 (Beta).  So in my efforts to keep up with technology the whole system F*&^%£$ up!!
Now I have de-installed all the upgrades everything is back to normal and I can update pictures as well as everything else (Including getting my iPod back up and running! which is the most important thing)

So whats been happening with the Lady?  Well as you can see from the picture she is turned around. Love my fingers in the sodding picture!?!

 This was her half way round (I tried to download these in order but have failed miserably!!)

This is her at the end of the day, pumps off and being left for the night.  Unfortunetly there was a couple of issues when the tide went down and it was far from the end of my night with her!

She sits well for a boat that has been that has been on her side for the best part of a year, the list to starboard is basically because she has several tonnes of water 'logged' planking on that side .

Another picture of her sitting alongside.  Trust me at this stage I could barely move! let alone the Lady..



This was taken the day before, and I missed the tide by ten minutes.  She won't lift unless she is completely dry as the tide comes in and the pumps cope fine with this.  However, there is a point that if the pump stops for ten minutes she floods beyond its ability of the pump to cope.  Which has happened on at least four occasions due to blockages or (Lets face it) bad luck.

We are starting out here, Brother was a but dubious as to whether my clever rope system and relying on the wind to do her stuff! But hey ho... experience and all that the next picture says it all!!

 Here she is around and afloat.  The pumps are more or less acedemic when she's upright and the two inch honda four horse power copes absolutly fine (When not choked up with crap!)

A view aft.

 Its amazing the cold sweat I had on here, thoughts like 'if she goes down here the harbour master is going to have my B*&^s!!

 She is still moving with minimal effort... well by me I had the camera recording for history!!

Floating fine!

These are two pictures that have been kindly supplied to me from a very kind Irish friend who I have managed to contact about her history amongst other things, John deserves a blog to himself and I will re-post these pictures along with a fuller description of her history (as well as a bit about John himself who is an established artist).

And finally here she is floating fine!  It took quite a bit of effort but this was the result of a days work and you have seen a bit of the process above, thanks to David (My brother) and his mate Aiden who put their backs into the job....literally!

So at this precise moment she is back lying on her side, well away from the harbour wall.  She has just survived a North Westerly force 9 (Thank you Posiedon!) but we are due another blow on Tuesday so I am a wee bit panickly at the moment.

There is an awful lot yet to be 'B'Logged' about, but I'm just out of hospital after a wee procedure on my back and its getting painful sitting here typing.  So I'll update again tomorrow, hope fully, with a bit more about everyone and everything that is going on.

Aye


Kered  

Legs... two or four??

After some thought (Yes I am capable!) I took a turn into Corpach Boatyard in Lochaber and met a very knowledgeable shipwright, called Sandy, and we had a long discussion about what to do with the Lady 'in her present condition'.
As you know she is presently on her starboard side with the tide flowing through her on a daily basis, I personally don't think thats to big an issue as she is not moving and lets face it the corrosion doesnt matter at the present state of the repair schedule. 
However, the weather is getting a bit poorly now and all it would take is a half decent blow from the West and then I would be dealing with more than parted seams!
The main disussion with Sandy was on what to do with the Lady if she could not come out the water on Kerrera because of her weight.
Obviously, the Corpach yard can take her and do a full repair and I am going to have them give me a full quote to make her watertight and sea worthy again, the earliest that it could all come together is January as they have obligations to other boats meantime.
But meantime there is the issue of moving her and getting her somewhere that doesnt cost £110 a week to be tied up against a car park!
The answer is legs methinks and then tuck her into a corner somewhere until the yard can work their magic..
One thought is to drill a rib and a plank and attach a birch log leg slighty aft of amidships.  This would stablilise her to a point and then I could maybe put another leg slightly forward.  It would add extra strength in the long run. 
I am going to have to take advice before I start drilling right enough, I also have to persuade the previous owner of the Lady to supply me with the wood for the project.

Sorry I cant get any pictures up at the moment something is wrong with the software.  I'll look into it in the near future.

I have a whole lot more to talk about, but I think its more appropriate to put it on the website which is still being constructed....dont hold your breath!

I'll probably leave the blog until next week, when Sandy the Shipwright gives her a going over for the quote from the yard. Unless something happens of course.

Sorry about the spelling as well, spell checker is duff as well on this software!!

Aye

Kered 

Previous blog

Sorry for some reason I cannot upload my pictures to the blog or get the spell check to work.  So I aplogise for the inconvenience!

Kered

Day 7

Do you ever get the feeling you have bitten off more than you can chew?? Well its getting that way with the Lady Evelyn!
Where to start?? The begining is always good I suppose...
Ok, after my 'help' went AWOL due to the cry of wild women and drink!
I had to sort out the pumps and the logistics myself.  I hear you say "So what?" well you try lifting, lowering and manhandling a petrol pump down a twenty foot harbour wall and across a deck that is a slippy as ice and tell me that its easy...well if it is, it all had to go back up again when the lady refused to lift on those tides I didnt blog about.
I managed to source three pumps and heres a wee thank you to those involved, first thanks to Paddy Lafferty for the honda 5hp garbage pump, then to Burden's for finally getting a decent wee diaphram pump and also to Neil Munro from Munro's garage in Oban for the very cute 1 inch honda that looks like a toy (Works absolutly fine though!!). 
I want to mention the fourth pump that came from MacGloghlans that didnt work and nearly killed me in the discovery that it didnt work!! It was a heavy bloody thing that was as awkward as you get, a huge amount of effort for nothing in getting it on board then trying to prime the thing...but a thank you for letting me borrow it none the less.
The pumps were all 2 inch apart from the one that didnt work which was a four inch.  It turned out the diaphram and the 5hp were adaquate to get her afloat.  It appears that there is a point where if the boat is dry enough and if the pumps are on, then she will lift. 
If the pumps are not running, as happened the night before, the water overtakes and its not worth carrying on. 
I think a lesson to be learned here is that if the water looks like its going to win...then its going to win!
So after the lessons learned from day 7, the Lady lifted on day 8.  It took the two pumps mentioned and having them running the whole time.  She really did not take that much water after she levelled out as most of the seams that were coasing a problem held fine (I had caulked them at low water)and the worst ones were above the water line anyway. 
If she has sprung a plank then its not overly causing a massive influx of water.  Not enough to worry about towing her as is anyway.
The tow job... Well she is going to a yard to be hauled out and then work can begin on her proper.  At least that was the idea.
What the reality is, is that she may well be far to heavy for the yard's cradle to lift her out.  The yard has apparantly tried this before an the cradle 'groaned' under the strain. So much so that the pilot of the cradle gave up. 
The yard have said they will try again, but she goes back into the water if the cradle fails again.
Therein lies yet another problem, if this yard cannot take her out......what the hell do I do?
The charges where she is sitting at the moment are £110 (Approx) per week and the deal is that I get her moved ASAP. 
I have postponed the move three times due to pump problems, human interference (Sorry, lack off it) and timing of the tides and to be honest the weather the other day was atroshious.
If she cannot get intot he yard then one thought is to put her on legs and find a beach somewhere, but to be honest that would be the kiss of death for the vessel as access might very well be a huge issue. 
She already lists very badly to starboard after having been lying on that side for over a year and very badly needs to dry out .  (The initial idea was to let her dry out for some time on the slip at the boatyard then lift her, that cannot happen now as the yard have put pontoons up inside the pier for locals to use for their boats.)
Since the timimg of the tides are wrong this week, the fact that I have managed to lift her and turn her round are a bit acedemic and I have had to return all the pumps. 
The tow couldnt take place as there was nobody in the yard at the weekend to attemp to lift her.  So the next attempt is going to be on the 5th or 6th of November.
I still do not know hat do do if the hoist/cradle cannot lift her.  Is that going to be the nail in the coffin for this project? The only yards that are capable of taking her are based on Corpach near Fort William, Mallaig or South to Crinan.  But since I would not get change out of say, twenty thousand...well thats me stuffed.
Like I said at the begining of this blog "Have I bitten off more than I can chew?"
I am begining to think this project is cursed.....
Aye
Kered