A Step Closer...
We visited Preston Marina (http://www.prestonmarina.co.uk/) today to talk to Chris Miller about lifting HSL 2552 out and the various options that we have. He wasn't around so the staff rang him on his mobile and while we waited for him we had a lovely cuppa and scone in their cafe, can highly recommend it if you are passing by. We hadn't rung ahead so it was great that he came in to see us.
We had a really good chat about the options, the initial conversation started off with the fact that they could maybe lift her without damaging her, mainly due to her state to us going for a steel "pallet" to be made for her to sit on which would mean that they could lift her without damaging her and it would also mean that we could move her around once on the back of the low loader without using a crane.
I've ordered the plans from the Greenwich Maritime Museum, who have also been incredibly helpful, once they arrive we'll pop up to the marina again so they can plan in more detail what will be required.
All this has only been possible because of the great help from Ken Hunter at the RAF Museum at Hendon, who has been most helpful in working out where I can find the information I need. I'm hoping to visit Hendon in the next couple of weeks at which point I can thank him in person.
I bought a cheap, yet powerful 1,000 litres a minute petrol driven water pump today that should make short work of pumping her out, I'll be ordering 4 large capacity (18,000 litre per hour) bilge pumps this weekend and also some other bits and pieces so I can pump her out next week, patch the hull from the inside using some underwater glue that I have and hopefully she'll start to stay afloat ready for her epic journey.
The next task is to find a home for her, with her being on a steel type pallet it opens up a larger number of places that she can be worked on.
