Thursday 8 June 2017

and we're back in the water...

WyeInvader Two was booked to go back into the water on Wednesday the 1st of June, however like all good plans you have to have a plan B if A fails. On Wednesday the 1st, the dockyard had too much work on so we were given the following Monday as plan B. On the Sunday before, it was clear that at least 2 low pressure areas, one after the other were forecast for the South West of England and the Severn Estuary with 35 to 40 Mph winds and heavy rain. On the Monday I phoned Sharpness to be told, it was off for Monday and Tuesday but should be OK Wednesday.



Wednesday - and the the lift was scheduled for the afternoon however, by the time we got to Sharpness at 1400 hrs, WyeInvader was already in the water moored up against the starboard side of the ‘Oliver Cromwell’, a Paddle Steam Boat  that had been moored in Gloucester for many years and had just sailed under her own engine power over the last weekend to Sharpness to have her glass boarded up for a sea passage to London to start a new life.

At this time, a yacht and a Narrow Boat were being craned into the dock and we had to move to moor alongside one of the other boats and wait for the very large cement boat the ‘Longvif’ out of Groningen, who had just unloaded 5000 tonnes of cement to enter the Lock, this it did at 1730 hrs. We had a shout from one of the dockers to move up to the bridge out of the docks as it was open for use, ready to pass through on to the Canal and, after nearly 6 months of maintenance, WyeInvader Two was back in her berth.




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