How to get 60ft of oak up a beach.
30th March 06
How to get a 60ft plank up the beach intact, without breaking it, dropping it, bending it wobbling it or in any other way exceeding the design parameters of it’s operation. If you don’t have a boat but want to replicate the emotions, imagine someone coming along to move your house 100ft to the left. In the rain.
Now, gather together all your used squeezy bottles, toilet rolls, tin foil etc. Get an adult to do the scissors bit and don’t run round with them meantime. Work through each stage, starting at (a).
(a) Steam all day to harbour of choice. Sleep in and enjoy rude awakening from a dozen workboots clumping across the deck and corralling your boat across the harbour as if she were a petulant, unbroken horse.
(b) Position boat at bottom of ramp
(c) Send down the cradle
(d) match boat to cradle
In the blue hut on the trolly is a man with a wee hydralic engine that raises arms to clamp the hull so the boat doesn’t topple. This is a delicate art as the boat needs to be straight on the cradle and the rams not too far up so as to go through the side of the hull. The first time I took the boat out of the water I was a nervous wreck with a paranoid mind replaying all the disasters that could potentially happen. Now I don’t look. All credit to the boys from the yard who are superb and never confirmed my fears yet.
(e) start to haul
(f) side slip
Once out of the water the boat is side slipped onto a hard standing. This allows the cradle to be removed for use on other boats and gives a more secure footing for the Halton.
(g) the bloody long ladder
Once the boat is chocked and supported a monster ladder is put along side and all good skippers retire for a cup of tea.
And nothing was prepared earlier.
May 6th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
Sod your boat, you forgot to mention the most important thing that it was your sister’s birthday and anyday soon you’ll be able to spell my name…………
May 6th, 2006 at 7:32 pm
“i” before “e” except after “c”?
September 25th, 2006 at 9:14 am
[…] I was delighted to be able to do this as it gave me the opportunity to meet ‘the man behind the blog’ which I have reading fairly regularly throughout the year and following the adventures of Halton as they travell the northern seas of the UK. His blog initially grabbed my attention as he described the work being carried out over the winter in preparing Halton for a new season. how to get 60ft of oak up a beach Enjoying his sense of humour I was hooked and became a regular reader of Halton Ocean Meeting Bob was a bit like meeting someone famous who you already know a bit about and I was qute excited when I finally climbed down and onto the Halton. There was only a small group of us on board which not only meant that we had a lot of space but that there was plenty of time to talk to Bob and I was not disappointed. His sense of humour is very evident in the blog which has often had me laughing out loud as I read some of the entries. In reality he also enjoys winding people up and playing the odd practical joke. As the group were also of a similar ilk it proved to be a trip with much merriment and laughter. […]