Boat Collection From Local Park
The Boatbreakers team didn’t have far to travel for the latest scrap boat collection. A high and dry boat was collected this week from just down the road in a local Park.
It’s been a long time coming but the Boatbreakers team finally got our hands on a wrecked boat in Gosport Park. Members of the team regularly visit the park whether it’s to walk a dog or watch their kids play Rugby.
We first noticed the boat becoming grounded at the beginning of the year. Over time stormy weather and hide tides have pushed the boat higher up onto the playing fields. It wouldn’t have been long until the boat was completely clear of the beach.
Pillaged
Over the months the boat has sat there it has been stripped and pillaged by passers by. When we were finally asked to remove the boat there was next to nothing let on her. Even the windows were smashed through for good measure.
Our normal plan for a boat like this would be to send a truck with a Hi-ab lift to come and pluck her from the beach. The Park’s ground was fairly hard so there wouldn’t be much risk of the truck sinking into any mud. However the only problem with this idea was the access to the park itself. There is only one double gate which a truck just wouldn’t fit through.
The Plan
Luckily the boat wasn’t too big and the hull shape meant it would be straightforward to winch her onto a roller trailer. The plan was to bring our large roller trailer, drive across the park and then line her up to load.
When we arrived we decided to try and spin the around so the bow was facing directly onto the park. This would give us a flat hard surface to load on to.
We jacked up the front of the boat and placed some pieces of wood under her to make sure she’d slide. It was important to us that we didn’t do too much damage to the park itself.
Up and Away
The boat was spun around by attaching a rope and giving her a gentle pull with the truck. We then got the trailer back into position and reversed her as far under the bow as we could get. Once the winch cable was hooked onto the eyelet at the bow we then began to winch her up.
With plenty of elbow grease the boat inched her way up and onto the rollers. We pulled her up as far as we could and then strapped her down. The collection team were pleasantly surprised with how smoothly it all went but with it being a local job we had a while to weigh up the plan.
Council Removing Potential Public Hazard
Gosport Borough Council were glad to see the back of the boat as it had become a drink/drugs den. With the park used regularly by local families it had to be removed before someone did themselves some harm.
