Now its time............

Having been granted a weeks leave from operation 'chaos' on Jekyll island (IOW) i thought it about time i grasp the thorny issue of getting the boat off of its cradle and onto the ground (or as close as possible).

Having performed David Blaine-esque feats on this project before with nothing more than a pallet truck, a cup of coffee and the look of a dinlow i thought to chance my arm one more time and do the job of raising some three tonnes of boat first up in the air balancing on four car jacks and then 'control' the descent to the floor minus the cradle.

It was during the early stages of jacking up each side that i remembered the mass of the keels is concentrated in the front half as the boat appeared to be taking a bow all be it very slowly but still a problem. My worse fears came to pass when with all four jacks pretty much at full extension the boat slowly started moving forward!

Whilst remaining calm i eased each jack a little but on seeing the boat moving ever closer to the front wall of the shed i panicked and opened the bleed screws on both jacks, with an almighty 'thud' the back of the boat landed back down on the sleepers, only now it was popping a wheelie. I got the bottle jack out of my van and hastily scribed a block of wood to the profile of the bow and chocked the front so it couldn't move.

At the end of the play yesterday i felt like i'd run a marathon, with the boat firmly on terrafirma i spent today boarding over the floor so i can get on glassing the hull.

roger