Perils of browsing the net when you can't sleep

Bad weather, cold, grey days.  This time of year just seems to drag on.

Woken in the middle of the night by heavy rain hammering on the roof of the boat, I can't get back to sleep.  I get up and have a brew.  Nothing on TV at 3AM, so turn on the computer.

I find a discussion about a boat, sunk in the River Medway during the storms of 2013.  This boat had a wooden cabin as it was a trip boat with lots of windows. Another boat had sunk on top and destroyed the cabin, so it was in a bad state and was eventually towed away by the Environment Agency.


A bit of searching later, I find that this was Achilles, originally one of a pair of boats, Apollo and Achilles, They were built as trip boats on the Leeds Liverpool in the early Seventies.

You know what happens when you are captivated by something on the computer.  Before you know it, it is morning, and I have been searching around for more hours than is healthy.

All of my searching had found that the Achilles was built by Colecraft in Burton on Trent for Dave Lowe when he started Appollo cruises.  The remains of the hull were abandoned in a yard near Liverpool, so I went off to have a look.

First impressions were that this boat was a wreck, which technically it is.  The engine appeared to be a lister twin, complete with undergrowth.




 


Back in Chorley, Ash Mandrake was playing at the Malt & Hops.  This guiy is a crazy story-telling bard combined with a mad musician, with a different hat for each song...
Drinking Marshmallow Unicorn, being enterttained by a Crazy man.  It doesn't get much better.




A long conversation with Kier, and he phoned Dave Lowe and chatted for a while. It seems the engine is the third engine for the boat, the first two being under powered.  I made a stupid offer of money, and we were off to Liverpool with a crane and a wagon.










Soon back at the boatyard - there goes my free time!