Im still here and still plodding away on PROJECT BOAT. Time is – as ever – tight… that whole you-have-the-same-number-of-hours-in-the-day-as-beyonce just doesn’t hold true when you dont have an entourage. And, without pointing fingers, Beyonce has been kinda quiet recently too.

Work has been progressing – less me and more Matt at Woodbridge Boatyard. But more on that when we break for christmas.

In the meantime, Andy jumped on to the “get in touch” page to share a really cool anecdote. Very much a snapshot of a time and place in London history. Just imagine little Beta zipping over there with hoses at the ready.

Hi there, great to see the boat being restored to good use. I can’t help with the restoration but I do have a story. My 18 year old grandfather was on watch overnight on February 8th 1928 on the SS Trevilley at Greenwich buoys after a voyage from Argentina laden with sugar. Around 08:00 he noticed smoke from one of the holds. Now I don’t need to tell you that sugar and fire are not a good combination. Gratefully although two holds were aflame and there was much smoke and fumes three fireboats from Blackfriars, Rotherhide and Cherry Garden Pier quickly arrived to get the fire under control and extinguished by 09:15 with no injuries to anyone. The ship sank with all the water but was refloated, scraped and repaired within a few months. Based on the service dates of the Beta III I believe it was the fireboat that came to the rescue from Cherry Garden Pier that morning !

Good luck in your restoration !

Andy