Saturday 12 July 2014

Liverpool

21 June, 0 miles.
Our sea level apartment at the Hilton.

Did the 24 hr, hop on hop off bus tour to suss out the layout of the town. Went around for a second time and hoped off at the Catholic Cathedral, known as “Paddy's Wigwam”. A modern building. There was a service of presentation from a group, like Rotary, who do a lot of funding for the parish. Service finished with a great peel of the bells. Most impressive. Moved down the road towards the Anglican Cathedral stopping off at the Philharmonic Dinning Room, a pub. A well known haunt of the Beatles so had a coffee in there. The Anglican Cathedral is the biggest one in England. Built of stone to a Gothic design but only finished last century. A huge building which makes me wonder where else the money could have been spent. As we left they provided us with another peel of bells. We must be important.
Paddy's Wigwam

Anglican Cathederal

22 June, 0 miles.

Used the hop on hop off again and got off in an area of town the furthest from the boat. Checked out an old church near the water front. Turns out there has been a church here for at least a millennium . The present one was built in a stile of late 18th century. Rebuilt after the war. Walked into Mathews Street and wondered down into the Cavern where we sat and watched 2 acts and had an ale. You could feel the atmosphere of how up and coming performers and bands got their start. Wondered around the old buildings of the St George quarter. Most exciting was the library. An old stone building that when you went inside there was this most dramatic 21st century four story high atrium of glass.

The Cavern
23 June, 0 miles

Boat Maintenance day. Molly Rose has been vibrating badly and I am concerned that too much of this could cause all sorts of problems. Fixed up some window catches, got stuck into cleaning out some rust under the shower floor and spraying it with rust killer. Walked down to the nearest boat yard to talk about the vibrations. They are coming to look in the morning.

24 June, ½ mile.

The mechanic arrived by boat at 0900. had a good poke around and didn't think it was the gear box although he detected a bit of gear box oil in the bilges. He came to the conclusion that the next thing to check would be the shaft but the boat has to come out of the water for that. The lifter was available. After the pump out boat had been and done his job and we got a fill of diesel it was down through all the docks to the boatyard. Lifting out was interesting with me backing in between the straps, helped by an RIB as there was a bit of cross wind. Once we were positioned in the straps we got off and watched as Molly Rose took to the air. The engineer has one look at the rear end and says shaft is OK, propeller is the problem. Yes it had plenty of dings but it also looks like a bit of wood has been stuck between the prop and the rudder stern post. A bit of a discussion and few phone calls later we are advised to go and have lunch and come back by which time they hope to have some options available. Lunch, a good idea there is a Marina a block away with a restaurant. No money, every thing is on the boat which is hanging out over the water. The boss of the boatyard gives me 20 quid. I meant to pay him back, maybe one day.
After lunch we are given 3 options. 1/ Take the prop off and have it refurbished. Take about 3 weeks. 2/ there is a refurbished prop available but it would need the hole bored out and that could probably be done by a mate of the engineer in about three days. 3/ the prop manufactures have one off the shelf of the right diameter but with an extra inch of throw, think that is what it is called. The hole would need to be tapered to suit.
Coming up.
Molly Rose can fly.
Option 3 was taken. The prop came off and a number of photos and measurements were taken and sent to the manufacturer with a delivery date of next Tuesday. We leave Liverpool on Thursday. The old prop is put back on, we are lowered back into the water and wander back to our pontoon in Salt house dock. I relaxed in the Maritime museum till it closed and then we went up town for a feed before going to the Royal Court Theatre to watch “Lennon” the musical. An excellent production.

25 June, 0 miles

Back to the Royal Court to watch a lunch time variety show. Good fun but not a patch on Lennon.
From there it was a quick walk back to the docks for a guided tour of the old docks. The first wet dock in the UK. It increased productivity of goods across the docks so much that Liverpool became the most important dock in the country. The dock is now under the Hilton Hotel.
Under the Hilton

26 June, 0 miles

Today's adventure was to Port Sunlight. A village established by Lever Bros. who decided that employees should be properly housed and treated. It was a well laid out town/village with all amenities provide. I bet they didn't have staff retention problems. From Port sunlight we took the long way home via New Brighton at the mouth of the Mersey. Fascinating watching the shipping entering and leaving.
Sunlight Factory

A street in Port Sunlight
Port Sunlight Building
Fort Perch, New Brighton
"Art Work" on the Mersey River bank.
27 June, 0 miles.

3 tall ships entered the adjacent dock this morning. Makes the place look a bit like it would have a couple of centuries ago. Spent some time in the slave museum before back to the boat for a quiet afternoon. Need a day off every now and then.
The Tall ships
This yacht arrived with the Tall ships.It had sailed in from Ireland.
Owned by a Kiwi living in Liverpool. His plan is to prepare it to take his family back to Wellington
28 June, 0 miles

It was Armed services day on the docks with many military vehicles to check out. Stumbled across a field kitchen and had a second lunch. The police also had a large presence and ended up checking out some of their emergency vehicles. Craig I have some ideas to bring back. As the weather wasn't the greatest spent some time in the Museum of Liverpool. Probably the best of what we saw. After tea we walked up to the Anglican Cathedral to an Organ rectal with organist Ian Tray & special artist, Tine Thing Helseth on the trumpet. At times the organ was overpowering but it is a huge place to fill. The trumpet was superb. Tine has been to Australia, I will be watching for her coming to NZ.


An Idea for you Craig
29 June, 0 miles

“Ferry Cross the Mersey”. It's pretty hard to get the tune out of your head while on the ferry. A good trip and we found out more of the history of the area. Had a look over a Steam Tug that is being restored in Albert Dock.
Reflections of a Ferry passenger

Steam Tug. All working parts working.
Interior fit out still to be completed.

30 June, 0 miles

Maintenance day on the boat, a general tidy up and primed a few bare patches on the back. With head down I hear a voice, Hello there”. Heather from Napier has just arrived in Liverpool and come down to see us. That evening we all went out for dinner.

1 July, 0 miles.

Marmite for breakfast! Heather had brought me a jar from home.
Up early waiting for the call to take the boat down to get the new prop fitted. The call came to say the prop wasn't here yet but would be tomorrow so went to town to buy some hardware and took the opportunity to go up the radio tower. What a great view of Liverpool and the surrounding area. Should have gone up there a lot earlier in the visit.
Catholic Cathedral
Anglican Cathedral
Looking across the Mersey.
 That evening we went to the Empire Theatre and watched “The Lion King” from the cheap seats in the gods. Great show but missed some of the expressions being so far away. Still think Lennon was the pick of what we saw.

Ceiling light. Empire Theatre
On the way home we went to the “Amazon Locker”. Since arriving in Liverpool I have been trying to buy a battery for the laptop. The best advice I got was to get it from Amazon. Great idea so now to find somewhere to send it. Information centre, No, nearest Coffee shop, No, local PC retailer, No. Eventually the Harbour Master said he would accept it but I am a bit concerned as he spends a lot of time out of his office. I go to the Amazon site and order the battery and when it comes to delivery they offer delivery to an Amazon Locker. One is located in the car park across the dock. After completing the purchase they send an email with a code when the goods are delivered. You put the code in and a locker opens, goods inside. A great system for those on the move.

2 July ½ mile

Dennis and Joan join us today so we tidy up the engine room to make room. Up town to the supermarket to fill the fridge and cupboards as we have no idea where we will be tomorrow. Diana goes to meet the train and I wait for the call to get the prop fitted. They all get back to the boat just after I have a discussion with the boat yard about when we are leaving. Eventually they agree that I should have the boat down at the yard by 1600. A quick cuppa and away we go. This time all 4 of us get to experience Molly Rose being out of the water. New prop on, back in the water and back on the pontoon within 45 minutes. The new prop must be fast as I lost my cap on the way back.
Shiny new high speed prop



3 July, 16 ¼ miles, 6 locks, 7 swing bridges.

6 boats left the dock, 2 pairs of narrow boats then us by ourselves as the 6th boat was a wide beam and couldn't fit in with us. Once out of Liverpool we travelled on for a while and enjoyed and evening moored in the country side.


To sum up Liverpool, I would go back again and stay for the 14 days.

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