A Fish(ing boat) Out of Water

Endeavour came out of the water for her annual maintenance on 26th February.

Floated into the cradle at Leigh Marina, she was winched out of the briny where many weeks of hard graft await her.

The first job was to pressure wash the bottom and remove a year’s worth of Leigh mud and algae.

The weather for the first half of March got in the way of ‘getting stuck in’ but now it is hoped that the rubbing down, preparing, undercoating and top coating can progress, provided we get help from active members.

Alan and other members of the regular crew have enough to get on with ordering and collecting paint and brushes etc., addressing the fuel tank problem (members may recall that one of the tanks has a small leak and we’re crossing our fingers that resolving it doesn’t involve taking Endeavour to bits or moving her somewhere else to get the work done, but we’ll see!), fitting an additional topping lift to the yard to allow the new sail cover to stay in place during motoring trips and checking the mast electrics.

Life jackets and firefighting appliances will also be taken away for servicing. There’s plenty to be done and not much time!

It is worth saying that if anyone has a few hours they can spare to assist in prepping Endeavour for the year ahead, Alan Bartram (07989 456161) would be delighted to hear from you—we can always use more hands!

Weather permitting to complete the maintenance, it is hoped to relaunch the boat over the Spring tides on the week beginning 8th April. Alternatively it will have to be around the 25th April, when the tidal heights are much inferior.

As you can see from the schedule on the following page, we hope to make a lot of use of her, so this work is essential.