As we progress the wet dredging, more volunteers are coming forward to help as crew and be trained as operators.
The latest recruit is John Sirett, who qualified as an operator in only last week, gaining his WRG 22 ticket. A couple of weeks before, Bob Hallam gained his Instructor qualification 22I (that's 22 "eye" not 22"ell" or 22"one"). So the team is building.
Another milestone today as Dredger No. 5 reached further East than any other commercial boat in almost 100 years!
Bob and Andrew together continued creating a channel towards Griffin Mill Lock - the bit the dry dredging team couldn't quite reach.
The silt here is SOLID.
And above it is a carpet of reeds - they have to come out too!
Finally, at the end of a day of lovely, unusually warm (for us) weather, we reached the most Easterly point currently accessible - the dry boys causeway - and moored to it! (Picking up a railway sleeper on the way)
Celebration was marked by way of A crew picture taken by a lovely lady who just happened to be passing at this precise historic moment.
And to prove it, here's the lady in question, Mari.
Bob Hallam.
"May your bilges always be dry and your anchor always hold."