Barmere's hull is of riveted steel construction. In the course of her life she has been battered about quite a bit, and the normal life of a boat is that it flexes about in the water. In time this loosens the rivets, and rust gets into the gaps, enlarging them. Here our welder, Steve Connolly, an enthusiast for working craft, cleans up the area around the rivets before sealing them by welding.

Once he had finished, local firm NL Williams, (www.safetysurfacing.uk.com) who grit-cleaned the hull in 1990, returned to finish the job. They began by re-cleaning the hull, and applying a fresh undercoat of epoxy-resin.

The over-sized hatch covers (from a wider French barge) had to be removed before the boat could be moved. They would have blown off when the boat was on the road, and would prevent safe access for the lifting crew as they prepared to crane her onto the lorry for the move.

Williams' returned to give the hull a tough, long-lasting epoxy-resin finishing coat. Then our work party returned to titivate the boat, as described by Colin Greenall on page 13. The observant may have noticed that the BARMERE had LIVERPOOL painted as her Port of Registration when she was lifted out of Liverpool Docks in 1989 (see Cuttings, 5.11). However, she was first registered in Manchester... and that's what was etched into her hull when our crew came to paint her name back on.

Preparing for the lift takes far longer than the lift itself. Above: The crane lifts 36 tonnes of counter-weights aboard herself.

To cope with the barge's width, and to stop the slings sliding together, spreaders were used.

Before she could go back in the water, the areas where she had sat on wooden blocks for 15 years had to be painted (below) by one of Williams' painters.

Then she was gone! We are grateful to Robert Heaton and his company for allowing SCARS to store Barmere in their yard, and for his very great patience in awaiting this moment.