What had seemed a simple task of getting the windvane's designer/builder and the shipwright in the same place at the same time turned into an epic struggle but one that is hopefully now done. Everyone was fully co-operative but, as is probably going to be the case quite a lot in these early days, Donald Rumsfeld's "...things we did didn't know we didn't know..." reared up to bite proverbial behinds.
Having lined up Trenchard, from Neptune Windvane's, and Ian Foster, the shipwright, for an installation on June 28th, all that was needed was to arrange for Catweasel to be lifted out of the water the previous day. I say "All". Wicor Marine, Catweasel's current home, is nestled in the relatively shallow waters of Portsmouth Harbour's north west corner. As it turns out, this means that getting the boat close enough to the slipway to be lifted out of the water can only be done around high water. Couple this with the fact that the Wicor's staff, quite understandably, don't work 24 hours a day and we're left needing a high tide that falls between 8 and 5. This is also complicated by the fact that the lower level of water around weaker, neap tides aren't up to it. Consequently the 28th fell by the wayside.
One chat with the very friendly chaps a Wicor later and a provisional date of June 30th was pencilled in, with the work to be done on July 1st. This suited both Ian and Trenchard but just as I thought we were in the clear, Trenchard asked whether Ian was a welder. Another phone call confirmed that not only was he not a welder but that the resident welder at Wicor was unwell and wouldn't be able to assist.
Thankfully, Wicor maintain a list of approved service providers on their website and a company called Fabtech came into view. Another phone call and we were there! The tide, Wicor's crane, Trenchard and the windvane, Ian and Fabtech are now all lined up to leap into action and, subject to a lack of further complication, Catweasel should be back in the water and sporting a beautiful new windvane in time for the scheduled departure date. Here's hoping!
