Anyone that has been to the club since Saturday afternoon will have noticed the large Cradle is currently jacked up with its rear wheels off. On Saturday, whilst launching the 2nd boat of the day it suffered a catastrophic failure with one axle snapping whilst going down the slip. Fortunately the boat being carried doesn’t appear to have suffered any damage. All 4 boats planned for Saturday were successfully launched, albeit one being brought down the slip in the small cradle after the tide and floated off at about 02.30 Sunday morning.
The damage was assessed on Sunday with the assistance of Lawrence Newing who made a special journey to the club and actions put in place to obtain replacement materials and affect a repair with much stronger axles. Whilst the wheels were off it was decided that the wheels and tyres should also be replaced as they were showing their age (they were 2nd hand when the cradle was made).
Everything is looking good to have it all back together before the next scheduled lifts over the Easter weekend.