The mooring frames arrive by truck. These frames will be laid on the land side of the sea wall
and will be used to attach struts from the ship.

They are very heavy and will be concreted in place with steel reinforcement.

The field was not thought to be hard enough to take a 32 ton truck so offloading was done with a hydraulic arm (with radio remote control) from just inside the main entrance gate to the CYE site.

The frames will be moved over to the sea wall with a caterpillar tracked digger during the next week.

David Edwards

NORMAN ON RADIO SOLENT

Julian Clegg had his normal catch up with Norman, at 6:45 this morning on Radio Solent. With the staff on their 300mile bike ride and the GD leaving its berth and being towed up the thames this week (see the pictures further down this blog) there was a lot to talk about.

Click here to listen to the interview (3.8MB MP3 file)

It's a big file so please be patient while it downloads before it starts playing.

FITTING OUT PROGRESS

Corridor walls on lower deck now fitted and some door frames going in.










An extractor fan in the ceiling of the disabled toilet.











I hope the electrician knows where all these wires go!












One of the ceiling lights in the main deck.





It is now only a week to ten days before the ship is moved from Portchester to Chichester Harbour. We have a window of opprtunity of about 6 days to have a suitable tide and suitable weather and the forecast does not look good at the moment.

David Edwards Project Manager

Arch to Angel

10 intrepid cyclists from CYE are cycling from the Marble Arch, in london, up to the angel of the north, covering 300 Miles in 4 days, to raise money for the new ship, if you'd like to support them visit:

http://www.justgiving.com/cye-archtoarc

or to watch their progress visit:

http://cyearchtoangel.blogspot.com/

where Kevin will be blogging throughout the ride, from a support viecle.

Gerald Daniel's night out in London

After nearly 40 years in the Chichester berth, The Gerald Daniel finally had a chance to go to London! After an excellent journey round the coast, in a short period of suitable weather, she glided up the Thames. She went under Tower Bridge at 10pm on Friday evening and on to Cadogan Peir next to Albert Bridge at 11pm. She is now resting at her new home with a view of Battersea Park. I was there to watch part of the journey and see her into her new home.

Norman Doney Executive Director

Another major navigation mark (milestone for landlubbers!) for CYESC. After two weeks on a buoy in the harbour, having left a large hole in the mud (picture in previous blog) the good ship "Gerald Daniel" is on her way to a new watering hole (pastures new?). The tug Christine arrived at 12 Noon on Thursday 21st October and departed again in less than an hour with the GD going lickety split down the harbour and out to sea. We followed in Ribs but the longboat crew did not have a chance to keep up. At time of writing, the GD is just off Margate with the tug at anchor and will be on her way up the Thames, past the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye, under tow with a smaller workboat with less airdraft to get under the bridges. She is scheduled to arrive at Chelsea near the Albert Bridge at midnight Friday night and Norman plans to be there to meet her and the new owner with a final hand over of ownership.

What a wonderful day! There were many obstacles in the way with tug breakdown, unsuitable weather etc. but it has now happened. The CYE team and team spirit has come out on tops yet again. Thanks to all. David Edwards Project Manager.

Gerald Daniel Departure Photos

The Gerald Daniel Departed Chichester Harbour at about 12pm on Thursday, towed by a beautiful ex MOD tug and is currently En route to Chelsea, where it will be met by Norman and handed over to its new owner.

There she was - gone!
And now she is resting at anchor waiting for a tow, hopefully soon.









David Edwards Project Manager

Flashback

This is a Flashback to remind us of where we started. Some of these pictures are on the Website and if you have not visited there recently it would be worth another look.

Pictures here show the barge when in service with the MOD, then when we purchased her at Lowesteoft, then being towed into Portsmouth Harbour, then on the shiplift at Trafalgar Wharf and finally being pulled into the huge shed for superstructure to be fitted. There are no prizes for guessing which picture fits the description!

David Edwards Project Manager

Some things are posh and others are mundane. This blog could be the latter for some readers but others might be interested in the technicalities og fitting out.

The first picture is interesting as it shows the forward meeting room in use as a workshop. It has the ceiling in place and, yes, it is low. It was always going to be low and that is dictated by the original foredeck which could not be raised.

The plumbing in the plant room is approaching completion and, as expected, there is lots of it. This is because there are connections for the heat pump, the heating system, the hot water supplies and the solar panels, all designed to reduce running costs.

Then there are electrical control panels, one on the left for the waste water evacuation, the other for the heating system.

It is all coming together. It does not seem possible that it will be almost finished by the end of this month and then completely finished once the ship is moored at Chidham.

David Edwards Project Manager.

PS The new name for the ship has been decided. It is not the Enterprise so watch this space for an announcement. I will continue to use the name Project Enterprise for the time being to avoid confusion with contractors, subcontractors and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Some detail recent progress

Photographs on this blog show the aft staircase with open railing. This is in contrast to the forward staricase which is fully cased. Both comply with fire regulations. Also shown is the fire control panel being wired. This is immediately inside the aft entrance door. The fourth photo is the door between the aft entrance room and the corridor to the left of which is the staircase leading to the wheelhouse.

The pictures also show that the floor has now been screeded level ready for the vinyl final floor covering to be laid.

There is now only three weeks to completion before the ship is prepared for its tow to Chichester Harbour. Some finishing work will then be done for a final hand over which is expected to be at the end of November.

David Edwards Project Manager

A short Video

A short video of yesterday's events (please note this video has no sound)

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The big move

High tide this morning was at 11:32am - The GD was ready to go well before this, so as soon as it started to float, (about 10:30), 3 ribs, the jaffa and one large tug, pushed, pulled, nudged and generally manhandled the GD out of its mooring.
The exceptional high tide, floated to GD higher than most people normally see it, and with it moving for the first time in a VERY long time, many people had come out to see the spectacle. The next door sailing centre even put out a few armchairs on the sea wall to relax in, while they watched!

It had to be turned, so that it would go thru the gap in the mud bank, that had been dug in the last week.

With the tug pulling, and the other craft keeping it at the correct angle, it passed between the poles marking the dug out area, with no problems.

This is the view of the GD as it was pulled down the channel next to the footpath, on its way to the headland.

Nearly out of Bosham channel where it has lived for so many years.

The tug that was meant to take it round to the river Thames, broke down yesterday, so the harbour master had laid a temporary mooring in the deep water channel between "Fairway" and "Chalk Dock". The GD will sit here for a few days until the Thames tug is fixed and comes to take her to her new home.

Can you spot what is missing from this picture !?!

A view that very few poeple have ever seen!

There have been a few days gap since the last blog and this is due to some major events connected with moving the "Gerald Daniel" from its berth. That will be another story.

This blog continues the theme of the Galley with pictures of some more equipment arrivals. There are now two very large refrigerators, an
undercounter freezer and the loading and unloading tables for the dishwasher. The latter is a similar system to that used on the "Gerald Daniel" but with slightly less table space. So the galley is beginning to come together. It is a very important part of the ministry of CYE which has always specialised in good food, with second (and even third) helpings for the hungry. The galley has a door to the outside side deck for those sunny and warm days or just extra ventilation over the two extractor fans.

Watch this space for some truly remarkable events surrounding the exit of the "Gerlad Daniel" which is planned for tomorrow but has had some traumatic problems to overcome on the way.

David Edwards, Project Manager

The Galley has arrived! Or most of it so far. It is being installed as I write. All stainless steel and easily cleaned with no inaccessible areas. There are three sinks, one for food preparation, one for hand washing and one for dishwashing prior to entering the dishwasher. The ceiling is now finished. The floor was finished last week. The rest of the dishwasher unit and all the cooking appliances are yet to be delivered.

We have an Open Day tomorrow, Saturday 2nd October, on the ship at Portchester prior to decommissiong the Gerald Daniel with due ceremony in the afternoon and evening.

Might see you there!


David Edwards. Project Manager