Lockdown Diaries - part 2
John (left) with the early band of volunteers
I first learned of the proposed Raybel restoration project when I read about it in an ‘Inside Swale’ magazine, which is put out by Swale Council. They were inviting interested people to register with them – so I did.
At this time Raybel was in Essex, where they were awaiting a suitable 'weather window' in order to bring it to Sittingbourne. When this window came, the journey was done in two stages, stage 1 was to cross the Thames and reach Queenborough, where it moored up for a few days, with stage 2 being on to the final destination of Lloyd's Wharf, right at the head of Milton Creek. Whereas the weather had been the main concern for the first stage, the tide was of more importance for stage 2. The upper parts of Milton Creek are very shallow, and so the journey could only be done at high tide. I had spoken to a couple of locals who doubted if it could be done at all, but they didn't reckon on the skills of the Raybel crew.
I was informed as to just when they were going to attempt this final stage and so I went about half a mile along the footpath which runs alongside the creek, and that's where I met Raybel. They had chosen to make this attempt at the height of a spring (higher than usual) tide, but they had reached this point around a couple of hours before high tide. I was impressed with the way they were doing it, going extremely slowly – probably less than 1 mph (or maybe I should say 1 knot!). Every so often the barge would gently run aground, so it was then put into reverse, they waited a few minutes and then tried again. I estimated that at this time the tide was rising about an inch every minute, so a few minutes made quite a difference. Raybel was being powered by its own engine, I don't see how this could have been done under sail power alone. It was here that I first saw project manager Mark, he was “swinging the lead” - dangling a weight over the side, first on one side and then on the other, in order to judge just where the water was deepest.
So this is how they made it up to Lloyd's Wharf. They actually made it around 45 minutes before high tide, so they had a bit in hand.
The first volunteering tasks were mainly unloading sails, ropes etc from Raybel, and getting things organised for the “Welcome Home” party which was due to be held shortly after Raybel's arrival. In due course this party went off very well, with well over 100 people attending.
After that two shipping containers were delivered, and some time was spent making these into stores and workshops. There was still a lot to be done (and still is) before the restoration could take place in earnest. In order to access parts below the waterline the barge needs to be put into a dry dock, and it just so happens that the nice people who own the Edith May barge at Lower Halstow had a floating one which they very kindly agreed to give us. This was all very well but there were a few snags: It was moored offshore at Lower Halstow where it had sprung a few leaks, making it more a 'sinking' dry dock rather than a 'floating' one. Plus it already contained the unwanted remains of another barge, the Westmorland. Due to the leaks, it had been sitting in the mud for I don't know how long, and was more than ankle deep in mud inside, and it would need a seaworthiness certificate before it could be towed to Sittingbourne.
However, sufficient water was pumped out of it using petrol powered pumps to enable a tug boat to tow it alongside at Lower Halstow. Here we spent some time with one pump, pumping in fresh water while we agitated the mud using brooms, and another pump was pumping out the muddy water. There was also a lot of scale and debris which was shovelled into bags for later disposal.
Some welding specialists were brought in to patch things up, and in due course the appropriate certificate was issued and the (now floating) dry dock was eventually towed to Sittingbourne.
As far as I know, the idea behind a floating dry dock is that it is positioned either in front of or behind the vessel which is going to go in it, and then presumably at low tide, when it is sitting on the mud, its valves are opened to let in water. As the tide rises, the dry dock doesn't, thereby enabling the vessel to enter. The 'door' and valves are then closed and the dry dock is pumped out so it now floats but the vessel inside it is now sitting high and dry inside. It's no doubt not quite that simple but something along those lines.
At Sittingbourne we unloaded the aforementioned bags of scale and debris using a rigged-up electric winch, and then along came Covid-19. End of story for the time being - watch this space!
John