Newsletter Update

9th June, 2005

STOP PRESS. Boiler is now removed and at the boiler makers in Devon...arrived 1st June and once final discussions on exact details have been concluded work will start on the new one.

VIC32's TOW Firstly a camcorder has been aquired and Nick intends to make a film of the whole project, produce a DVD and sell..... all profits going to the Trust. Nick claims that up to present he has been in the right places at the right time!

Once the MCA (Maritime Coastguard Agency) had inspected the Puffer and deemed her okay to be towed from Crinan to Fort William it was all systems go.The tug (the BEN-CROM) was delayed by bad weather and the skipper did not want to travel round the Mull in such conditions.

On the 9th May we towed the VIC32 from her usual mooring on the East side of Crinan canal basin to the coffee shop,adjacent to the Sea lock.That evening the tug from Coast works of Fairlie arrived and the skipper came on board VIC32 and spent time considering the towing arrangements.The two eyes in the bow of VIC32 were not equidistant so it was decided to use the mast and the two spring bitts as towing points.

On the morning of the 10th we towed the VIC32 - by hand - into the sea lock which was then lowered and the tug came into the mouth of the entrance ready to hitch up. The fact that this would be a two hour operation and would effectively close the canal was not appreciated by a number of others and to the relief of the Lock keeper the tugmaster was prevailed to tow the VIC32 into Crinan Bay and complete fixing the tow there. Whilst the tugmaster spent a considerable amount of time on this a surveyor from Grangemouth from our insurers was inspecting both of us. Once he had signed the appropriate document this was faxed to his office.

Once this final clearance was given and everything seemed set the surveyor insisted that there would not be enough daylight at the far end of the tow Fort William to go ahead that day.

Then a hydraulic pipe burst on the BEN-CROM so the tow was postponed until the 11th May. The morning of the 11th was glorious and the two boats set off at a cracking pace. We escorted them to the North end of Jura (with a small deviation to see if we could locate a drifting Admiralty buoy and so gain a reward...we were unsuccesfull!) in the ''Duke of Normandy II'' and waved her a fond fairwell (All filmed by ace camera man Nick). Later that evening news was received that she had arrived at the Corpach Boatyard and was positioned on the beach.

On Sunday the 29th June Nick drove to Corpach with the trailer,carrying the cast iron liner which will protect the uptake of the new boiler,between the inner and outer barrels. On the morning of the 30th June ,with the tide coming in a crane made it's way down the beach and removed the funnel (filmed again by intrepid cameraman Nick), then retreated from the tide.

Later that afternoon the lorry that Kenny Pirie had organised arrived. The crane made it's way back down the beach,chains were attached to the engine room fiddley and the yard men completed the cut, this was then placed on the beach with the funnel. Unfortunately the crane was not strong enough to lift the boiler out and gave up after a 10 and a half ton pull.

The following morning another crane was summoned and the boiler suddenly parted company with the boat at a 14 and a half ton pull ! The cause of this was that ''somebody'' had welded a one foot long section of engine room flooring to the angle ring at the base of the boiler!! (see competition section for the winner of the ''Guess the weight of the boiler'' competition). Probably the first crane would have lifted it out but for this.

Boiler departed Corpach and arrived at R.K.Pridhams Engineers on the 1st June.

FUND RAISING Still actively fundraising for the ongoing refurbishment of VIC32....NEW ITEMS to arrive soon in the souvenir department.......these are ideal gifts/stocking fillers.

VIC 32 ''CD'' case calendars
'' Leather bookmarks
'' Slate coasters
'' Ripper wallets
'' Bubble clocks
'' Bottle openers
'' Pencils and case
'' Key ring
'' Mini decanter set
Plus all the old favourites.
P lease help support the fund raising by purchasing from the list......
Details and prices soon.

COMPETITION Timothy Burgess is the winner of the £200 prize with a guess of 6.920 tonnes (actual weight 6.860 tonnes). Congratulations Timothy.

Bad luck to George Makin who guessed 6.795 tonnes..... close but not close enough George!!!

GRATITUDE Thanks to Kenny Pirie for organising the transport for the boiler from Fort William to Tavistock.

We also have a new director, Paul Smyth, who is doing sterling work as our treasurer/bookkeeper.

Finally a thank you to all the unnamed out there who have supported the VIC 32 in her hour of need,it is much appreciated and please continue to do so.

FINALLY.. Come and see us onboard the ''Shieldhall'' at Portsmouth Festival of the Sea from Tuesday 28 June to Sat 2nd July more... We will have a small shop on board selling Puffer Preservation Trust souvenirs (hopefully some of the new ones as well) as we are actively fundraising for more hull plating to be done.

Look forward to seeing you there.

Mike Smith

Read the previous Newsletters:

14th March, 2005
17th February, 2005
27th August, 2004