The Big Steel Thing Part 2

You put your steel boat in,

Your steel boat out,

In, out, in, out, and shake it all about.

You stick it in the water and the bilge fills up

You've got a busted pipe.

What a day! Last week for the first time I saw the fruits of the winter's labours as the scaffold came down and the good ship Sulizan emerged from her steel & plastic cocoon. Today was launch day and, after some extra ground work to stop the boat lift from sinking again, she was lifted clear and trundled along to the wet dock, with quite a crowd of onlookers.

No sooner was she afloat than the umpteen sleepers used for supporting her were quickly redeployed as part of the landscaping around the shop and work commenced tidying the car park.

But hold it right there! What's that sound from the bilge? Oh no, one of the keel cooling pipes has corroded where it enters the ship and she's taking on water! Man the pumps! Get the strops round again! Rob the sleepers back from the landscapers! And... lift! Fantastic teamwork men, disaster has been averted. Mind you she does look rather vast sitting there in front of the wet dock. Let's hope she's back in the water before the weekend...