Raising The Lion's Whelp - Port Clean Up Part 2

In case you haven't been following along you can find my post about the tsunami aftermath here and part 1 of the clean up here.

On day three of working to raise the Lion's Whelp I got one early message....really early....like still dark out early... that this would be the likely day that she would be floated to the surface.

The next message I got was that she was up ...

I know.

I'm gonna have to dock his pay for that.

Soo I don't have the part when she came up but there was plenty of other interesting stuff....

She had some good sized holes in her hull that hampered the floating a bit.  The crew had to find all the holes so that they could be closed off and the pumps could be effective.

With some constant pumping they were able to keep her afloat.

There was a little timing involved.

The plan was to utilize the hoist at high tide.

Sean was in a dive suit as well since he had helped to find the last of the holes that needed securing.

I came back later when the tide was right for the hoist.

It was pretty interesting.

So I shifted to a better vantage point.

Once everything looked like it was in place they began to raise her.

The range of colors in this one blows me away.  92 feet of Gor.geous.ness.  Who knew?

Sooo about this time the boat was raised up pretty well and they seemed to reach a resting point.

My ADD kicked in and as I waited for the progress to renew I looked around at interested bystanders.

Both sides of the basin were lined with fellow watchers of interesting things.

Then all the watchers and I heard a SNAP.

About then I saw the wave headed my way....

And Mama didn't raise no dummies...

I sprinted (Dylan will debate my definition of a sprint but it was as sprintly as I get) to get off the end of the dock.

You all know I love ya more than my flip flops ....

but after the recent battering from the tsunami I wasn't real secure about how much more they could take.

Plus I'm kinda wimpy.

So we will now pick up after the sprint :).

From a safer angle.

It's been a rough couple of weeks for the old girl...

And the Port officials...

And the work crews.

They will continue to get the thing done.

I have no doubt.

In order to make the most efficient use of the  resources currently available the Port has opted to reduce the crews so Sean's dive boat job is done for now and I won't have the tip line but I'll try to keep my eyes open. 

I find it all to be so amazing.

The everyday gift of seeing something extraordinary on an ordinary day.


Lookin around for the extraordinary,
Cath

Dismasting the Lion's Whelp - Port Clean Up Part 1

Remember this from my last post?

Our oldest son, Sean, got the opportunity to be a part of the crew working to clear some of the sunken vessels in our port.


The design of his boat makes a particularly good working boat for dive crews.

It's deck gives easy access to equipment and convenient places for divers to load and unload.

Radon boats are frequently used as dive boats.

After the hazmat crews did their thing to clean up the area around the Lion's Whelp, the dive and salvage crew got to work.

The first step was to dismast her.

The more I learn about the history of this ship the more bittersweet the process seems.

As I hear the stories of her history and the lives she has touched....

The adventures she has seen....

The places she has been...

It has all made me stop at take a better look.

But it had to be done.

The wreckage needed to be cleared.

Our Port officials and work crews have accomplished an amazing amount in a really short period of time.

They've been working really hard and doing the best they can under some really long hours and unfavorable weather conditions.

I'm pretty proud of them all.

And this is all sort of fascinating.

But it's painful at the same time.

I'm pretty sure Sean feels the same way.

Glad for the opportunity...

But sad to see this beauty go.

As a very small child he would drag books of wooden boat designs (courtesy of his sailboat loving dad) into his bunk bed at bed time and build models of sailboats from whatever he could find.

I'll post a photo some time soon of one of my favorite things...a model he made from balsa wood, a metal keel and fabric for sails.

It's been one of his lifetime interests.

It's funny how when you look back you can see the path so clearly but when you try to look ahead it all seems so mysterious.

There's no places he's happier than on a boat.

Robert made him wave for me.

He looks thrilled huh?

More to come,

Cath