Essex Scrap Rib Removal
The only way was Essex for the Boatbreakers team this week as we travelled to Burnham on Crouch & Colchester to collect a Rib-Eye Rib for disposal.
We had a call from an insurance company that a Rib had been badly damaged during a robbery. The tubes had been slashed, the seats and central steering position unscrewed, and the engine had been completely stolen.
The parts that had been stolen had actually already been recovered by Essex Police when they had found a prolific thief in the area with an “Aladdin’s Cave” full to the brim with stolen boat parts. The thief had already been locked up and the parts could therefore be released to us.
It was an early start for the team as they set off at 5:30am as we were aiming to get to Burnham on Crouch before 9am. With one coffee stop and favourable traffic we made it to the Police Station by 8:30 and we went in search of a cooked breakfast.
By 9:30 with the help of the Police team we had the outboard engine loaded onto our pick up truck and we were ready to head towards the boat’s location near Colchester.
After navigating the long winding country roads of the Essex coast we made it to Mersea Island before the tide could cut off the link road.
The boat was being stored in a boat repair yard called Service and Repair. It was there that the owner had taken the boat to get a quote to fix the damage caused during the robbery. The team at the yard had already pulled the boat out to an easier location for us to access her. All we had to do was get past the inquisitive yard Labrador who set upon us to kiss any part of our body that got too close.
We set up our flatbed trailer with the ramp sections out and the winch cable extended. Within minutes we had the boat around and winched up onto the flatbed ready to be secured for the long journey home. Before we headed south there was time for a quick cup of tea with the staff at the service yard.
Once again the traffic was kind to us and we made it back to base in Portsmouth with the boat/engine still in one piece. We’ll now assess which parts we can remove and hopefully get the engine running again before we offer them for sale.
Written By: Luke Edney
Luke completed a journalism degree in Brighton University and fortunately for us uses this in his communications, Facebook posts, Tweets and emails to tell all our enquirers and followers what we are up to. Without Luke we would be lost, he runs the office, keeps us organised and is like a terrier and never lets a tricky boat disposal job go un-photographed or Tweeted about.
He also manages all of our enquiries passing them to whoever in the team is the best suited to deal with it. We are teaching Luke how to drive a motorboat or sail a yacht so while he’s learning we suggest you keep out of the Solent!
When he’s not at work he’s a massive football fan (his Dad used to play for Portsmouth FC years ago) and seems to know everything there is to know about any player, anywhere. Next time you ring and he answers, think of a tricky football trivia question and ask him
Date Published: August 24, 2018
Last Modified: June 28, 2022
Related Articles
Published On: October 30th, 2023The Boat breakers team were in Lymington to collect a much loved family yacht. We believe that the boat was built by the owner and owned for the last 45 years.
Published On: February 15th, 2022Marine salvage jobs are common this time of year. Especially as coastal marinas and moorings take a battering from the winter storms.
Published On: June 12th, 2018One of the perks of collecting boats from all over the country is that we get to visit some great places and meet some lovely people. Last week we were asked to come and collect an old Shetland from Milton Keynes. All we knew about her was that the Suzuki engine was probably dead and she’d been moored at the end of the garden for a number of years without any use.
Published On: March 5th, 2018The Boatbreakers team were asked by an insurance company to come and remove a motorboat that had broken free from her mooring, washed up on a beach and been tied up against the sea wall in Plymouth.