My new project... MFV Elizmor

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jellyellie said:
@knuterikt - Yes, I had thought about a floating crane to avoid the need for a ground survey, but I phoned up a company yesterday, and they charge £20,000 a day for the crane plus any relocation fees :S
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Any local windfarm installers who might do it for the publicity? They used some ruddy huge floating cranes to put in the Robin Rigg farm on the Solway ...

Otherwise I think you have to go Wile E. Coyote. Stack of dynamite (Acme brand, natch) under her, big bang, hope she comes down in the water. The worst that happens is that your face gets blackened and the sad trombone sound plays,
 
I dont know if its worth a call but when had my boat lifted over my place i was getting quotes of £1500 to £2500 although there were things like telephone lines, fences and gates in the way it didn't seem that big of a deal. From a recommendation of a work mate i phoned a firm called Dorset Crane Hire, they sent an engineer out to my place who spent an hour surveying and doing some heavy calculations judging from what i saw on his clipboard and they came back a week later and did the lift for £500 and that wasn't a special price that was just what they charged.

Although the crane did break my concrete driveway, a drainlid and sunk into the pavement, that wasn't the worst of it, i also found out i'd done the lift completely uninsured as i wrongly presumed the crane company would be covered. I only found out after reading the back of the invoice they covered damage done to the crane not by the crane.............nice, so make sure you get some insurance.

Dorset Crane Hire the numbers 01202 623399........ you should see the size of crane i'm going to need to get my boat back over, its a feckin monster and it requires plating my road with steel according to survey engineer!

Best of luck

roger

www.agentlemansyacht.com
 
jellyellie said:
Now - back to the launch nightmare - Bajansailor, that seems like a good idea, but we do believe the ground is suitable; she was lifted out there, after all. It's just getting either the marina or the crane company's insurers to sign a bit of paper taking responsibility for it with the evidence we have.
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This is odd, a marina that can not lift a boat(big, but so what) back in the water.
And a crane company that can not stabilize the ground.

This is not right.

IMHO (and as a former constructor engineer and crane operator,this sounds like a scam to pump up the fee.)
 
Dylan... yes... there have been a lot of tears of frustration, and I'm pretty bad at coping with that, which is getting me down, especially when I have done everything in my power to make this happen. Just coming on here and reading everybody's words of support and new ideas gives me the incentive to try and make some headway with it though, so thanks to all of you.

I am not one for talking about my feelings, let alone writing about them - I prefer to cover the hard & happy facts of snazzy anchor sponsorship and fresh coats of antifoul - but maybe I should do a blog post about how I feel about all of this.

As soon as the second launch was cancelled I drove six hours back down south, as I couldn't stand the thought of being up there at the moment with no new launch date in sight. I needed to come back down and see my boyfriend, friends and family, get on with the rest of my life. I even made the difficult decision to spend New Year's Eve away from my boyfriend, because I thought the launch was happening on the 7th and I needed to be up there preparing for it. I have poured my life savings into Elizmor, she is supposed to be my home, and at the moment my whole life is on hold and it's not fair that my feelings towards Elizmor are being affected by all of this ridiculousness - of course I love her, she is an amazing boat, but she doesn't feel like my home right now and that's making me sad.

I know I have to expect the unexpected because she's a big boat and a project and blah blah blah, but it's quite simple, I JUST WANT TO LAUNCH MY BOAT.

There. I did it. I wrote a little bit about my feelings.
 
Come on Ellie, we're all rooting for you but time for just a pinch of perspective, if this is the worst problem you have to deal with in the ownership of an large and old historic wooden vessel then you will have come off lightly. I know it feels rotten now but you may well be her custodian for the next twenty years and this isn't even a two month delay. She will be launched, but like a new baby she'll do it in her own sweet time. Good luck, and find a way to see all this as part of the journey.
 
Isn't it surprising that a crane-operator near to Ellie's boatyard, hasn't taken advantage of this high-profile situation in the same way Lewmar has?

How much good publicity would there be for a crane-company which advertised its 'can-do' approach by investigating the physical liabilities of the situation, then showed confidence in its own judgement by sending up a machine big enough to do the job, with load-spreaders, ground reinforcements etc, off the back of its own insurance?

24000 people have read this thread. The name of a company that overlooked endless risk-calculation and just got on and did it for a reasonable fee, would be remembered long-term.
 
Oh Jellie that is horrid to read, I really hope bunging it on here is cathartic and THE catalyst to cut this stupid Gordeon knot of risk-aversion-jobsworth-mean spiritedness ...

Is it worth taking up with the actual OWNER of the boatyard I wonder? You need someone a bit more dynamic who will shake it up a bit.. Presumably there IS a ground survey in existence because they trade as a business. And lift boats. With. Cranes.
First thing I would do now is ( and I am well rusty on this) revise Elizamors weight downwards having measured her beam and midship 'fullness' below the waterline ..
She will be dry and without ballast, water and fuel presumably , too.

"Small weight, small problem"

Maybe speak to the insurance co who underwrite the existing boatyard policy too- you never know, might be owned by a sailor ! ( and at least one of them is...)
Best luck,
 
Is there _any_ part of the ground within the yard, proximate to the water, that is considered satisfactory for the crane? If so - could the boat be repositioned (greasy poles as per another poster, or weld up a makeshift trailer about the boat where she is currently blocked off and drag her there with a tractor)?
 
several experts have looked at the job and walked away

the problem is that lots of people who know a lot more about big lifts have come to assess the job and then walked away

I am sure that it could be done - but it is going to cost

A couple of years ago I filmed a big lift - it was the SS Robin

but it cost a shed load of money

I am sure that they are also hugely concerned that the old boat might break up

which was the big worry with the Robin - they emptied everything out of her and internally braced the hull

and they were still sweating on it

tough and frightening day for the blokes doing the job

it was a three day build up to prep the site and a day to knock it down again - 20 trucks involved in bringing in the cranes

 
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Hi Dylan - "lots of people who know a lot more about big lifts have come to assess the job and then walked away" - no they haven't :) Nobody's walked away yet!
 
jellyellie said:
Hi Dylan - "lots of people who know a lot more about big lifts have come to assess the job and then walked away" - no they haven't :) Nobody's walked away yet!
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apologies for my turn of phrase

but people often put in a massive estimate for jobs they do not like the look of

and that applies to insurance companies as well as crane operators

it amounts to pretty much the same thing - it is a tough job where the risks are high

boats have an amazing ability to generate massive bills

D
 
dancrane said:
Isn't it surprising that a crane-operator near to Ellie's boatyard, hasn't taken advantage of this high-profile situation in the same way Lewmar has?

How much good publicity would there be for a crane-company which advertised its 'can-do' approach by investigating the physical liabilities of the situation, then showed confidence in its own judgement by sending up a machine big enough to do the job, with load-spreaders, ground reinforcements etc, off the back of its own insurance?


24000 people have read this thread. The name of a company that overlooked endless risk-calculation and just got on and did it for a reasonable fee, would be remembered long-term.
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+1 well said.
 
dancrane said:
The name of a company that overlooked endless risk-calculation and had the quayside collapse followed by the crane toppling in on top of the boat, would be remembered long-term.
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The crane operators haven't refused to do the lift. Nor are they talking silly money.

It's simply that big lifts close to the edge of historic quaysides where there is little known about the structural integrity and stability, is not to be undertaken lightly.
To do it properly will require an expensive bit of kit and a lot of time.
Both cost money.

No crane company is going to 'wing it' on the hope of some limited, unfocussed publicity. The risks are too great.

You're better of looking for someone who will help pay for the lift and gets publicity by association. Perhaps a bra manufacturer "For when you need a good lift in life . . . . "
Time for some lateral thinking.
 
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