It’s pretty hard to explain let alone visualise the process of lifting the boat. What happens where? What is the crane going to do? My solution to this is to attempt a dry run through the medium of lego.

Introducing Lego Captain Helen. Note the barnet – the Rye winds do it no favours.

And the lego version of Beta III in all its glory.

On Wednesday 6th November around 11am, Beta III will be making her way downstream.

She will be steered (and towed) by captain Carl.

Only a 15 minute journey from the current mooring to the wharf but time for a bit of a titanic impression en route. I am sure that Ms Winslet didn’t have such an unruly barnet.

Betty is at the wharf so time for the lift to begin.

Three strops are run under the boat and lined up with the bulkheads – the strongest parts of the hull. These are attached to a chandelier beam to prevent them collapsing inwards.

The crane is moved into position and the lift begins.

Betty is lifted out of the water and on to the waiting lorry (yes, I know it’s a turtle but I’m afraid the props cupboard was bare… Work with me here)

Betty is then whizzed up the road to the industrial estate with the crane then lifting her off on to the railway sleepers.

We all celebrate a job well done.

What could possibly go wrong?
Woman overboard?

Lifeboat rescue?

The crane breaks sending Betty crashing into the water?

We hit an iceberg titanic style?

Fingers crossed for a successful lift!

CREDITS: Many thanks to KSJ for fabulous photography skills and to Roland for the towel.

The original lego version of the fireboat is below…

Like a five year old boy, i am becoming slightly obsessed with diggers and cranes and machinery.

And now lego. More on the lego later.

Finished!!

Also took delivery of the railway sleepers at the new site. 20 of the beauties.

20 sounds like more than it looks. I don’t know quite how they are going to jenga them but seems like suspiciously few to me. Have ordered 15 more, just in case…

Was watching the delivery guy unload these while asking stupid questions (“Are they a standard length?” Like derrrr, have you ever seen a railway track Helen?), when we got rhino charged by a bulldozer. Started to panic as wasn’t sure was in right place/allowed/doing something wrong… Turns out it was the site caretaker offering to help with the moving. Any chance you can fit a boat in there mate?

While the angle grinder was being out through its paces, mum and I skivved off to explore Rye Harbour. Specifically the doorstop bacon sandwiches at the Bosuns Bite.

We then walked along through the nature reserve to the pebbled beach. Sunburn and windburn all round.

(The seaside gives you a very shiny forehead. Fact)

At the risk of sounding like representative of Rye tourist board, getting to explore the town and surroundings has been an unexpected bonus of the project. Please come down for a visit – lots to show you and really delicious seafood (apparently, I have just been eating bacon sandwiches the size of my head).

Things are taking shape down in Rye. The windows are out, the sides and roof are off, and the stern end (check my lingo) is frame-free.

For such an ugly structure, the top frame is remarkably well constructed. Plywood sandwiched with insulation and clad around welded steel. The positioning doesn’t help either – you can’t push for fear of ending up 8 foot below in the mud. Giving it a big push or a couple of petulant thwacks with hammer won’t work (I confess, left to my own devices, this would have been my strategy).

Slowly slowly catchy monkey with each steel having to be cut multiple times to break the structure down piece by piece. This was helped by switching to the spendier diamond blades on the angle grinder (at 60 quid a pop, am not sure these are real diamonds).

Sunglasses on while angle grinding. That’s how we roll in Rye!

Below is only one of the many piles of boat debris to be disposed of. I am manning the skip tomorrow to take care of this. I have special rigging gloves, overalls and a bobble hat (as ever, key concern is not how I will do it but rather what I will wear to undertake the task). Am going to cram as much in there as humanly possible, taking the same approach as i do to suitcase packing for the return journey from NYC. But with splintery wood rather than half the contents of sephora.

Here’s how she was looking at end of day to day. Back half pretty much done…

Final push tomorrow and then we will be all set for the big lift!

Thanks to Led for the work in progress photos.

I am quite a stuff person, not adverse to accumulating possessions and never knowingly without the gadget or the outfit for any situation. However, I am trying to exercise some restraint when it comes to all things fireboat. The temptation is to buy all the bells and whistles (quite literally in this case) but I am trying not to splash the cash before I am quite clear what I actually need and am trying not to end up with a whole heap of junk I won’t use.

On this basis, my instinct was to rent the railway sleepers to sit the boat on when it is out of the water and someone had already offered to loan me some. However Rye Hire sells them and deliver. As I am assured they maintain their value pretty well (as long as not smashed to smithereens by a 30 tonne fire boat) this does seem like a better option.

Quicker than I could flash the plastic, I now have 20 of the beauties arriving on Wednesday. I then have to arrange them in a giant jenga pattern ready for the boat to sit on.

The second challenge was to find a tarpaulin. The bog standard woven plastic ones are not cheap but also not that great and I had been warned they would be shredded by the wind in no time. The best option is either a lorry tarpaulin or army surplus tarpaulin as anything custom or purpose made is mega bucks.

I consider myself fairly resourceful but by mid afternoon was drawing almost a complete blank. I had visited the local haulage company batting eyelashes with no joy and phoned what seemed like all the similar companies within spitting distance of the M20. After numerous calls I had only managed to get a 10ft by 20 ft tarp from a haulage company in Ashford. A bargain at 30 quid but a mere fig leaf on a 67ft boat

Time to get the mothership on the case. I hate to be shown up but in 30 minutes she had secured as many 30 by 10 ft tarps as I wanted for 60 quid a pop from some manufacturer in Wisbech. Skills on toast. They arrive on Wednesday.

I don’t want to tempt fate but things are slowly coming together for the lift on 6th.

Whizzed down this morning, with bluebell being buffeted on all sides, to finally get the work underway. The hideous structure is surprisingly well put together with layers of plyboard, insulation and a climbing frame of welded poles. Lee and Led are attacking it with crowbars with the PVC lean-to extension already in the bin.

The inside sections were crowbarred into oblivion today. The roof panels go tomorrow and on Wednesday the metal structure gets the angle grinder treatment.

I normally consider myself a bit of a pro at pre painting destruction. However this scale of demolition is clearly out of my league.

After hovering round the edges helpfully and appropriately humming “wrecking ball” by Miley Cyrus (i came in like a wrrrrreeeeeecccckkkkiinng baaaaaalllll…) and taking photos, I decided my skills might be best deployed elsewhere.

Off to make phone calls over a cup of tea in my new favourite place – The Bosuns Bite – and a blustery walk with the Gizzster round Rye Harbour.

It looks very chocolatey but is actually made from kale and has almost zero calories.

Discovered this little hut thingy in Beta III colours. Looks great against a blue sky. Excuse the wonky skyline – need Kate or Naomi to come work some filter hips fanatic magic.

Back on Wednesday to check progress.