Day 9 - Trimming the fat
With the initial stripping complete, NR Haulage brought all the old propulsion systems back to HQ at Egmere, ready for refurbishment and for fitting into the other vessels. Meanwhile, Mantsbrite removed the old bridge electronics that are to be upgraded ready for the new installation. We haven’t measured the wires removed that will not go back in but for sure we are in the kilometers, rather than meters.
Goodchild Marine cut out the bottom of the port side hull ready for the new mould.
The team also cut off the bow nipple ready for the brand new Buoyant Works fenders.
Next, we removed the old bridge wiring, console, and seating ready for Goodchild to provide a newer, lightweight version for all the Volvo displays and IPS controls.
With Ginny Louise now stripped Tidal and Goodchild have planned space for the new water tank and mapped out locations for some of the new electrical kit.
Fortunately, despite the initial problems with weather, so far everything is going to plan and as expected. It was even a nice surprise to see how well the boat was built, the hull for instance was over 40mm thick in places – very different to 3-5mm aluminium.
It was a less nice surprise for Goodchild because cutting and grinding has taken longer than planned. No sandwich core in sight, only hand lay-up!
We did see a few signs of diesel impregnation in the laminate around the old fuel tank, but this was only to be expected after 13 years of commendable offshore service.
As work progresses, we’re continuing to remove weight daily - it’s amazing how much all the little bits add up. Watch this space for a final count on the total weight removed, but what we do know is that it needs to be big to allow space for our 3.447mwh of batteries!