As I mentioned in the last post we were having difficulty with the paint scheme and that and a couple of other issues delayed our fitting of the centre plate, for the uninitiated the centre plate is a socking great piece of stainless steel that you lower under the bottom of the boat to provide directional stability and to help maintain the boats trim.
The boat ready to be tilted off the keelway and to have the Centre plate fitted, this was a fairly tense moment and the mattress was there to protect the paint job...
The centre plate laid out and ready to be slide into the centreplate box...
AND... CALAMITY Just when it was going so well the centre plate jammed as we put it in, it took a good deal of heavy wa]eight hammering to get it in as far as we did and considerably more to get it out again. It was at this point that we found that it was distorted and actually bowed.
So having got it out and bearing in mind it is now 16.00 on a monday evening with the launch due on Wednesday at 14.00, we had to look for radical solutions to try and straighten it...
It was a forlorn hope as we drove a selection of vehicles over the plate in an attempt to flatten it, however, it laughed scorn at our efforts remaining obturate and unflattened. So I then did some high speed ringing around and located an Engineering Company about 10 miles from Lyme who said they might be able to help and I could take in my centre plate at 9 am the following morning, so with 46 hours to go and counting we have the ' Rose on her side, no centre plate, and of course because we couldn't move her out from under the mezzanine, no masts!
Adrian, the boss of the Engineering Company, wiped his hands and and pursed his lips 'Well, Stainless is funny stuff,' 'Ah' said Dave in agreement, 'him's bent and bowed!' 'Tricky.' said Adrian shaking his head slowly, 'Give me a call at 3 and we'll see what we can do.' So we returned with 29 hours to go and little to do but twiddle our thumbs and finish off a number of small jobs.
At this point I decided I would have a quick look at the main sail and discuss it with Jeremy, our resident sail expert...
So, following the modification to the Main Sail to allow us to attach it to the gaff... thereby avoiding a gaff.. Boom Boom I set off to collect the centre plate, it was at this stage that I remembered that in my desperation I had forgotten to ask Adrian how much it would be. The plate was flat and Adrian did inform me that it had actually taken 200 tons of pressure to flatten it... so attempting it with a 4 Wheel drive had been a pretty futile gesture.
The flattened plate ready for the next 'successful' attempt. It took some effort but we got it in and moving up and down by coating it with wax.
At 9.00 am with 5 hours to go we wheeled out the 'Rose so we could fit the rigging, it was frenetic, and it was at this juncture that I realised that I had seriously underestimated on the halyards and had to dispatch somebody to collect additional rope from Beer.
With 15 minutes to go with the boat in the carpark being examined by family and friends I was still frantically attaching halyards, and sheets (the last halyard having been two separate lengths spliced together at the last minute)
 |
| Rigging the Jib |
 |
| With Jib and Mizzen in place |
 |
| Fully rigged |
 |
| Person handled down the Gangway |
 |
| Off the trailer |
Launched for the first time...
 |
| Under Oars... How come I'M rowing |
 |
| Under sail in Lyme Bay |
WE MADE IT!!
I am now ceasing posts to this Blog as this particular journey has now been finished; it has been a fascinating and fulfilling 9 months and I hope that those of you who have followed progress have enjoyed doing so....
