Re-float!
May 2024
On the high tide of Tuesday May 7th, Raybel floats serenely out of the dry dock!
In the week beforehand shipwrights John and Laurie had begun the process of soaking the timbers … pumping water into the barge to check for the extent of leaks between the hull and bottom timbers. Not bad was the general conclusion, though to the (several) novices in the team, the sight of water pouring from the bottom of the barge was understandably a touch disconcerting. But it’s inevitable, the wood being new and dry. This first soaking helped to swell the wood, and by Monday 6th May both shipwrights were confident(ish) that a refloat in one of the newxt two days would go OK.
It needed to - as the only time we were likley to have enough depth of waterin the Creek, and hence in the dry dock once the valves had been opened, was on the monthly high tide. And May’s was due to be one of the biggest of the year.
And so it was. Lines secured, a pull on the ropes at just the moment the barge, rising on the tide, cleared the cill of the dry dock, and out Raybel glided, to a thrilled and grateful crew of shipwrights, volunteers and wider Raybel team who have dedicated so much to reaching this moment.
Images: Raybel in drydock ahead of the refloat; volunteers nervous wait; Raybel front side and stern views after refloat; the empty dry dock
