What's the story at Burnham

jon and michie

jon and michie

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Hi I have been wanting to ask/post on here what is the story of the large vessel that is laying on her side at Burnham and is there any plans to reply right her?
Jon
 
Rumour has it that someone has bought her and intends to refloat her. There are some large plastic water tanks alongside which may be used as flotation tanks, but no sign of any recent activity.
 
Seems to be getting worse, day by day.

Quite controversial locally: some think it's an eyesore, that needs to be fixed or removed asap, others think it's an interesting focal point and tourist attraction.

Me?

I quite like it.
 
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I live in Burnham and walk past her regularly - I always find damaged craft very sad, so would prefer her to be refloated either for repair or, more likely, scrap. The current attempts seem fruitless and poorly organised with little hope of success.

As I understand it, before she fell over, she had a mains powered bilge pump to cope with plating leaks and deck leaks (rather whole deck planks missing) and the overhead crossing of the river wall pathway for the electricity supply fell down in a February gale (the pole supporting it looked very new at the end of Feb, which supports this hypothesis). In consequence she filled up and fell over. Lying on her side, the missing planks in the starboard deck go below the water on every tide allowing the Crouch to fill her up then drain out again, and she's gradually digging herself a deeper hole in the mud. Given the state of her plating and decks, restoring her would probably be more expensive than building a replica so, unless somebody is dedicated to her as original, her future doesn't look at all bright.
 
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PeterWright said:
I live in Burnham and walk past her regularly - I always find damaged craft very sad, so would prefer her to be refloated either for repair or, more likely, scrap. The current attempts seem fruitless and poorly organised with little hope of success.

As I understand it, before she fell over, she had a mains powered bilge pump to cope with plating leaks and deck leaks (rather whole deck planks missing) and the overhead crossing of the river wall pathway for the electricity supply fell down in a February gale (the pole supporting it looked very new at the end of Feb, which supports this hypothesis). In consequence she filled up and fell over. Lying on her side, the missing planks in the starboard deck go below the water on every tide allowing the Crouch to fill her up then drain out again, and she's gradually digging herself a deeper hole in the mud. Given the state of her plating and decks, restoring her would probably be more expensive than building a replica so, unless somebody is dedicated to her as original, her future doesn't look at all bright.
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She has a bit of history, as well, with sinkings.

I recall she fell on her side a few years ago, but, with the help of the fire brigade's pumps, she was soon refloated on that occasion.
 
Bit of lateral thinking aka Sherlocking - Go to Google Earth, zoom in onto her current location, turn on 'Photos', clcik on the closest image and et voila la bas il est une image of her that you can see upright.
 
I've no pictures of her, but I recall seeing here moored on the Medway, back in the late 80's.

She looked well kept, and had a bit of a sort St Tropez/ Antibes exotic air about her.
 
 
It's the subject of a lot of local council interest, obviously. The last I heard was that it's not deemed to be a pollution risk, although I think the plan was to boom off the stern of the vessel to prevent any possible pollution. The owner has apparently "walked away", which presumably means the Council will incur the cost of cutting the thing up and removing it, with the cost hopefully reclaimed from the owner.
 
Forgive my naive ignorance around marine salvage operations but is there any reason why a barge or other suitably large floating platform cannot be floated in along her starboard side and then at low tide made fast to her rail? Then when the tide floods it should lift her horizontal again and she'll float. My understanding is the hull is intact, it's just that given the angle she is sitting on the mud she floods before there is sufficient buoyancy to lift the rail. Is that really going to cost £7.5k to arrange?
 
Triassic said:
Forgive my naive ignorance around marine salvage operations but is there any reason why a barge or other suitably large floating platform cannot be floated in along her starboard side and then at low tide made fast to her rail? Then when the tide floods it should lift her horizontal again and she'll float. My understanding is the hull is intact, it's just that given the angle she is sitting on the mud she floods before there is sufficient buoyancy to lift the rail. Is that really going to cost £7.5k to arrange?
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I've no idea whether that's feasible or not. However, sorting the situation is complicated by the fact that the boat's owner steadfastly refuses to engage with the authorities. Letters sent to him by recorded delivery are simply returned. He apparently agreed to a meeting, but didn't turn up.

The boat is on land owned by Maldon District Council, who have been trying for months to get the owner to resolve it without incurring huge public expenditure. However, it appears that the legal situation is complex. It has been discussed at a number of meetings of Maldon District Council, but each time the discussion has been held in private and no minutes are publicly available.
 
Triassic said:
Forgive my naive ignorance around marine salvage operations but is there any reason why a barge or other suitably large floating platform cannot be floated in along her starboard side and then at low tide made fast to her rail? Then when the tide floods it should lift her horizontal again and she'll float. My understanding is the hull is intact, it's just that given the angle she is sitting on the mud she floods before there is sufficient buoyancy to lift the rail. Is that really going to cost £7.5k to arrange?
Click to expand...

After months of muddy water flooding in and depositing sediment, she would remain heavier on the starboard side. This would still be sufficient to keep the boat unstable when floating basically upright. Personally I would have thought £7,500 was quite reasonable cost for a professional team to bring her upright. It will not be a 5 minute job, but will require some substantial flotation bags. The large plastic containers I saw a month ago close to the wreck, probably do not have sufficient buoyancy, hence the need for professionals.
 
Thanks for that - throws an interesting light on the issue.

MDC's problem in addressing this is a simple reflection of the problem marina owners have when owners walk away from "project" craft moored (or more often parked on the hard standing). Basically, there is little possible until the marina gets title to the vessel, and this can be a long drawn out legal process. Most harbours of any size have a graveyard corner somewhere.

Peter
 
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