Friday 9 June 2017

Ravensdale is back where she belongs - in the water


Photo of Ravensdale moored alongside the pontoon at Maryport Marina

Ravensdale moored alongside the pontoon at Maryport Marina

At long last, Ravensdale is back in the water.

Her relaunch at lunchtime today didn’t go as smoothly as we’d hoped, but we’re back in the marina now and it’s great to be afloat.

Photo of the blocks in place ready for the relaunch

The blocks in place ready for the relaunch

The wooden blocks Phil and Mic made at the weekend were screwed to straps and tied in place under the exhaust manifolds that lift and get damaged whenever she is lifted in or out of the water.

Sadly the blocks failed when the straps of the boat hoist tightened beneath them and one of the blocks broke as it took its share of Ravensdale’s 16 ton weight.

Photo of a fender used to replace the broken block

A fender is used to replace the broken block

So we had to revert to plan B and two of our fenders were inserted under the exhaust manifolds in an effort to protect them from getting broken again.

Photo of Ravensdale being lifted in the boat hoist

Ravensdale is lifted in the boat hoist

The big boat on MPM’s yard at the top of the slipway – the Isle of Man fisheries boat, Barrule – was moved to make room for the hoist to transport Ravensdale from the hard standing onto the slipway.

Photo of the Barrule on the MPM yard

Isle of Man Fisheries vessel Barrule before she was moved to make way for our relaunch

Watching Ravensdale heading towards the water was nerve-wracking. I couldn’t help thinking about the various holes Phil had cut in the hull to fit the trim tabs , the transducer for the depth sounder and the paddlewheel for the log and wondering if there would be any leaks.
Photo of Phil and a friend watching Ravensdale head towards the slipway

Phil and a friend watch Ravensdale head towards the slipway


Photo of Ravensdale's relauch

Ravensdale's relauch

Once she was in the water, Phil went to check that there was no water coming in at any of the locations where he had cut holes through the hull and thankfully there wasn’t.

So he drove Ravensdale to her mooring and it already feels as though we’ve never been away.

Photo of Ravensdale back where she belongs

Ravensdale back where she belongs

We’re not going to get rocked to sleep tonight as there's next to no wind, but it looks as though the wind is going to get up tomorrow so we'll soon discover whether we have lost our sea legs.