Medusa Restoration 2007
February 2007
The first new plank goes on. Port side aft.
March 2007
An immaculate Mike Boyce starts an immaculate Gardner 1L2 which has been completely rebuilt.
Peter Lawton preparing a tank to electrolytically remove salt from the cylinder head castings. We believe this is a first for engine components that are to be reused.
April 2007
The port quarter being re-planked.
The first 12mm diagonal skin is on and the 6mm horizontal layer is being applied. The outer diagonal still to be applied.
FIRE – 30th October 2007
Early Tuesday 30th October a fire broke out in the workshops and rapidly took hold. The situation was made worse as there was oxy-acetylene on this and the adjacent site and a gas main fractured feeding the fire. It was finally extinguished late that evening. In spite of the danger, the fire brigade did a magnificent job containing the fire so that there was no significant damage to adjacent property and Medusa was totally unscathed.
Thursday morning…
We had the site back but it was full of hazards from unstable buildings. The devastation was beyond belief but there was too much to do to ponder it.
This is the engine shop with the two Gardner 8L3s visible. They were full of water and aluminium/brass components had melted. Parts like the starter motors were completely destroyed. A specialist salvage company worked with us to dig the engines out and coat them in preservative.
15th November 2007
In a delicate operation the engines are lifted through the remains of the building and transported to a Gardner specialist where they are stripped (again).
