June 2004

Marines on board "Grand Turk"

The start of the GSC cruise to the Mersey to take part in the Maritime Festival

Narrated by Dennis Marsden

The day dawned in my case by the very rare and historic sound of an alarm clock and then just on 0900 hours we left the dock en route for the Mersey along with three other Glasson boats.

Towards the Wyre estuary Fingal owned by Justin developed some sort of water leak and decided to go back to Glasson, but they later found the leak, cured it and continued on their way.

We had a fairly uneventful crossing, plenty of tea was drunk and sandwiches taken and one or two of us even managed to have a little siesta.

On arrival at the Mersey bar, all the boats ( Two Shoes, Salvador and a few from other ports ) came together and we sailed up river to the Pier Head

and came up to anchor on a over a level shelf of sand just off the Albert Dock to wait for the tide to enter the Albert Dock.

Just before the gate opened an Orange boat was spotted sailing past the Pier Head towards us and we were delighted to see through the binoculars that it was Fingal, Justin, who had made it at last and we were able to all enter the Canning half-tide lock at the same time.

We had an enjoyable few days visiting other boats , museums, shops etc.

Wheel of the "Grand Turk"

On Thursday morning very strong winds were blowing around Albert Dock with several boats stood outside the lock.

Two big square-riggers, the Mir being one of them, were helped into the Birkenhead docks by tugs and as we watched from this side of the river, it seemed to be quite a struggle for Mir , even with 3 tugs.

There were several privately owned boats in the river, HMS Blythe – a minesweeper- and two old Baltic Trader type vessels – the Iris from Rotterdam and the old Bessie Ellen – a wooden West country trader.

The first to attempt it, nearly on HW was HMS Blythe and they came in using big naval fenders, and it was just as well, because the fenders were squashed down to nearly nothing.

Dead on HW water, Bessie Ellen, with a 20’ bowsprit, came in to a standing ovation! All the people standing watching cheered and clapped and the helmsman brought it through, surging on the top of waves with a strong crosswind .

Then, after a few attempts and circling round, the Rotterdam historic boat, the Iris then came through, they also got loud clapping and a hearty welcome from all watching. After that the gates were closed and the party and the excitement subsided.

Just to give an idea how bad it was, inside the Canning dock, a long way from the entrance, the Grand Turk a big square – rigger was going up and down on the swell so much that they had to bring in an extra huge fender – about 8’ in diameter but still the steps on the vessel and part of the forward chain plates were damaged and that was more than 100 metres from the entrance!

Justin's Log, June 13 2004 Glasson to Liverpool

Sailing from Glasson Dock at about 8:30 am with myself, David and June onboard Fingal, a 24' Sterling Matador was, apart from a couple of short trials, really her maiden voyage after an unknown but very long period as a derelict wreck and a 3 year refit.

All was going well, although we had the wind on the nose and were making slow but steady progress towards the fairway buoy. At approximately 9:15 when all three of us were in the cockpit, I was at the helm and David was playing with the echo sounder to try and decide what mode it should be in to work best, he suddenly announced "We are taking in water
inboard and fast!?"

I looked down the hatchway to see what looked like a foot of water swishing around below. June, who had never been on a boat before in her life, took the helm as David and I climbed down into the water filled cabin to look for the source of the leak. As we had sailed the boat twice in the river for about an hour on each occasion, and that the boat had floated happily in the dock for about 2 weeks without taking on any water we assumed the leak must be engine related, but it was really impossible to tell, especially as the propshaft was spraying water around the back of the boat.

We had to switch the engine off and man the bilge pumps. I remember feeling slightly relieved to see the water level decreasing after a few minutes of pumping. I had called Toggenberg (who was coming up behind) when we realised we were sinking, and by now she was almost alongside and offering a tow, but where to? We couldn't go back to Glasson as the tide was ebbing so I said "no thanks" as I knew we could keep on top of the situation with the two Gusher pumps. Looking back now, we should have passed a line to Toggenberg and kept moving till the leak was dealt with but we didn"t. Without the engine we were still being blown into shallow water with only the mainsail up, and June did remarkably
well despite not being able to sail.

Still water was pouring in, but from where? We stopped pumping and checked round the engine, the sea was choppy and water sloshed around inside the boat, it didn't seem to be engine water, inlet or stern gland but it was hard to tell. David checked the heads skin fitting but it wasn't that so we pumped some more and then started the engine as we risked being blown into shallow waters. As the engine started David shouted he could see water coming in from the stern and I climbed down the quarter berth, thinking it must be the exhaust skin fitting, but it wasn't, but I did finally find the leak.

"Fingal" has a propellor inspection tube which goes down from the cockpit sole through the hull and in it was a hole of an inch in diameter which I was not aware of just above the waterline in calm water, but out at sea water poured through it like a fully open kitchen tap!

I found a bolt in my toolbox, wrapped it in electrical tape and whacked it in the hole with a mallet.

What a mess! You can't imagine it, apart from the water, every conceivable thing had been pulled out from the lockers in the search for the leak. I wish we had a bottle of wine on board as first the cork would have been handy and the so would the wine.

After a slow and choppy passage to Lune Deep we almost had the boat tidy, and turned south for a very enjoyable sail to Liverpool. The hole in the hatch must have served a purpose in the previous unknown life of the boat, but what, I have no idea.

Justin out

Justin acting as safety boat for the submarine crew

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The Parade of Sail on Sunday was one of the highlights of the Festival for us.

The logistics of the operation must have been quite daunting - all the boats taking part had to move from Albert Dock to the Canning Basin where they were locked out into the river in front of an audience or thousands.

"Jean"

We recognised one couple from Glasson (Doug and Chris Gorton) waving from the riverbank, but there could have been more in the throng.

We all were meant to sail around a set course round two marks in the river, but there were sailing boats (especially Prawners) up and down all over the place.

Whilst all this was going on, three of the big tall ships had locked out from Birkenhead, sailed down to Tranmere, turned round and were sailing majestically up the far side of the river with an escort of a fire tender tug.

The Royal Daffodil was loaded to the gunnels with sightseers and weaved its way through the small craft,

but avoided the majestic Mir, the Russian cadet training ship

We had to leave the parade to get back into Canning Dock at high water, but the Nobbys (Prawners) continued with their race and many of the visiting boats left on their voyages home.

More photos on this website:

http://www.merseyshipping.co.uk/photofeatures/irishcelticseas/england/merseyfest04/MerseyFest04.htm

It's all over now and we're preparing to leave, the gate is open into the Canning Dock.

and Peter busy, as usual, preparing for the next voyage