by: Bob H.
That made you look, as really this is the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end!!
Over the last year and a bit, we’ve kept this wonderful blog informed of our experiences with obtaining, rebuilding and refurbishing, then working hard on the learning and documenting the very new operating processes and practices.
We’ve had so much help from so many volunteers, it would be unfair to single anyone out. We can never thank you enough.
It’s taken us a couple of weeks to do a few final bits of documentation tweaking, but our Chairman, Jim White and H&S director Laurence Bryant, formally and physically witnessed our (written) operating procedures. This was carried out while “live” dredging took place. Following from this, they then gave us permission to put Patricia into (almost) unrestricted service.
We are now familiarising our WRG “22” operators and commencing training newer recruits. To enable a more structured approach, we have written and had approved a comprehensive training syllabus. When our assessment control sheets are complete, we will have a formal process to make our training as safe and efficient as possible.
So in a little over 13 months, we’ve taken a lovely but tired Dredger and transformed her into an incredibly useful and comfortable to operate item of plant. Hopefully, Patricia will serve us well for many years to come.
To this:
From this:
And, like an iceberg, most of what went on is under the surface!