There was rain over the weekend and we have water in the bilges! Not a lot, but at least it had settled the dust in Western Depot yard.
Work continued apace on Patricia. Paint was being applied to various parts of the boat over the whole day. Our latest batch of SVCC purple was a slightly different colour to the first, although it had the exact same RAL number. So any parts, namely the roofs of the cabins, which was in the early shade, were given another coat. Odd bits that were missed in around the boat also received attention.
Up front, the plethora of fiddly bits around the JCB jib took on a bright shade of yellow. It is all looking quite smart now. Just the end of the dipper arm to do once the mechanics of the clam bucket are completed.
A discussion took place this morning with Andrew R., our dredging manager, looking at the detail of the required movement for the clam bucket/rotator coupling. This resulted in some minor modifications to the limits of travel of the fabricated assembly. We still need to complete this component before the clam can be mounted.
It was very pleasing to get an unannounced visit from our friendly hydraulics man, who clearly had our job high up on his agenda. He arrived just as we were welding the hydraulic pipe saddles on the dipper arm. Earlier in the day, we finally managed, at last, to part the unwanted hydraulic cylinder from the arm to make way for the new piping.
With any luck, we should be able to complete the whole assembly and test operation. This is critical in advance of the launch, which is scheduled to take place next Monday along with Tug Margaret. Wednesday is going to require a real focused effort to complete these essential jobs which require the services of the depot being close at hand, before then. Exciting times!
