Lifting in 2007
And then the day arrived; 20th of March. One of the highest tides of the year, meaning followed by one of the fastest ripping currents the river Conwy knows. Sea Ghost was the last to go in, in other words, engine failure would probably deliver us within the hour in Dublin.
Marie Lou prepares for the plunge
I had prepared a short mooring rope of the recommended thickness, spliced over a nylon thimble
and a further spliced loop at the other end to be fastened on the deck cleat. The smile
on the face of the harbour master after inspection wasn't comforting. The splice wasn't
tight enough and the thimble was to be made of metal.
This meant buying one from the local supplier; 7ft rope equals 30 marine pounds, the new
currency. The pattern started to develop in my mind.
Do you really think she will float?
Yeah full of convidence...
The weather forecast the day before was a cold gale force 9 from the NE. Reading the small print in the Western Almanac, it says: Conwy, good shelter except in NW'lies. We were told that the whole show could be cancelled. But the next morning the lifting crane showed up on time and one by one we were lifted in the water. The NWCC launch was on standby in case of engine failure and one of us was to be dismasted by the Conwy bridge.
Hooking up
I must admit, I was more than a little pleased to have assistance from my sister, who just happened to be in the country. She was prepared to go down with the ship, which is always a noble attitude as the dinghy wasn't ready yet. The lifting in went smooth and after some hiccups, the engine started and carried us downstream.
In the air
We took Sea Ghost downstream past Conwy Marina and then returned to find our swinging buoy. There was some confusion which buoy was to be ours and in the end we picked one that I at managed to pull on deck without breaking too much of my back. Mooring ropes tend to twist around the mooring chain and it was no weather to get the feet wet.
Motoring away to the mooring buoy
The last action was to call the harbour launch to pick us up and great was my relief that the 2nd hand VHF set was working. On the way back we picked up another sea worthy crew, appearing equally relieved to leave their boat afloat. The harbour launch gave her a subtle bump in the waves before we turned for dry land. My heartbeat slowed down and I started to wear my "done-it-many-times-before& look and we made a bee-line from the jetty to the pub.
So that was that, she was in the water.