The rising of 69.M

On Saturday the 15th of November, 2014, the work party assembled in order to pull 69.M onto the shore, in church bay. Help arrived from all four corners of the country, and along with some ESB poles, two tractors, a JCB and a length of cable. The barge was pulled into position the evening before, so that in the morning, all we had to do was secure the cables around the back of the barge, place the tyres on the wire in place, and secure the cable to the back of the tractors. Colm had placed the ESB poles in place using the JCB a few days beforehand so by 10.00 we were ready to begin the lift. The barge rolled up nice and handy, with minimum dragging of the poles, and most of them rolling along as planned. By the time the boat was clear of the lake, she was sitting pretty on the poles all down along. The next issue we had was trying to balance her, so that she could be jacked up in place. Using the bucket of the JCB as a lever in a number of locations, Colm managed to straighten it up, and get the relevant rollers straight and level for the jacking to start. We had two Jumbo jet landing gear jacks, a 15t and 35t jack so weight wasn’t the issue, it was stopping the boat from rocking side to side when jacking at either end. This was easier at the back then at the front, due to the skeg, but everything was in place by 16.30 that evening. Myself and Colm did some more jacking to move the support timbers around a few days later, and then the boat was ready to begin welding the new 10×5 4mm plates onto the bilges.

The Jacking of the Stern begins, with the JCB in the background.

69.M up and the lifting Jacks in place.

The stern of 69.M after leaving the lake.

Slight adjustments to the support timbers.

The stern leaves the water.

69.M in her final resting place on the shore.

The two tractors needed to pull the barge.

Adjusting the trim with the JCB

Adjusting the trim with the JCB

69.M with her nose out of the lake

The crew assembled just before lifting commences

JCB and Rollers in place, 69.M about to leave the lake, Gerry Burke in picture

JCB and Rollers in place, 69.M about to leave the lake, Gerry Burke in picture

69.M with her nose out of the water

JCB and Rollers in place, 69.M about to leave the lake.

November 2014

These are some photographs I took of the barge in November. It was around the time of when we pulled 69.M up on the shore, and one of the many days that I was doing some cleanup work on the bilges of the boat, getting the engine room and ribs pristine for when the engine would be finished and go back in.

ESB 1 stored in Church Bay

Shot of 77.M from ESB1

Lough Derg, Church Bay, view from ESB 2, November 2014

Day trip to 32.M

I took these photos back in October 2014, when one Sunday afternoon I decided to walk the canal from the University of Limerick to the joining with the river. I knew that 32.M had been bought and brought down to Limerick from the Grand Canal with outboard engines, but I expected to find it in the canal, with restoration work well underway. To my surprise I found it still on the river section, where it appeared abandoned and on the bottom. Without even a cover over the hold similar to mine, the hold had half filled with water, the same mechanism which caused 77.M to sink in the first place, so obviously I was shocked to find history almost repeating itself. The boat is of a very similar design to my own, which is very interesting to observer, with the cut down bow, the cage and cabin, and the big open back deck with the tiller for steerage. I recently attended a talk by one of the local men involved in this restoration and was informed that they are waiting there moored up until the lock is opened so that they can moor on the canal stretch and begin their restoration work. The lock appeared fully operational to me, with new lock gates and rams in place, but I also heard there is hassle with getting them opened over political reasons. I hope that they sort this out and that work can start on this barge, not only is it historically significant because of its era, and its unique shaped, known colloquially as the “Diamond Barge”, but if left there much longer unloved, it could degrade even further and I fear be lost forever while finger pointing takes place.

32.M part I, looking down the Abbey River in Background

32.M part II, showing the main section of the boat.

32.M part III, showing the front section of the boat, the diamond-shaped bow is submerged.

Winterisation 2014/2015

After a busy few months in 2015 I am only getting the opportunity to update the blog from the winter months now. This post will be a short one, outlining the few points of the winterisation. After the summer months I pulled the barge up outside ESB2, the perfect breakwater and jetty for the winter. After sorting out the ropes I bought a tarpaulin which would cover the hold, and more importantly, the sides of the cage for the winter, and stop rain coming in, as she was already taking on some water through the bow. I removed the hatch on the top of the engine room in October, and Colm pulled out the engine with a front-loader and she was brought up to the garage to be stripped and rebuilt. These photos were taken in November, one of the days that I went down to bail some water out of the hold in the front, the engine room, and to remove some of the muck and oily dirt that was in the engine room bilges.

77.M winterised 2014/2015 with a view of church bay

Engine Room pre powerwash and paintjob

Engine Room pre powerwash and paintjob

77.M winterised showing tarpaulin cover 2014/2015

77.M winterised, showing tarpualin cover 2014/2015

77.M winterised 2014/2015

77.M winterised 2014/2015

77.M winterised 2014/2015

77.M winterised 2014/2015

77.M viewed through the trees, tied up in church bay

Engine Room hatch in storage