Mordialloc Motor Yacht Club

After weeks of preparation the new yet to be submerged section of Slipway Rail was ready to go in over at Allnutt's Boat Yard last Saturday. A crack team had been assembled for the task!

Bill Watts had Thelron in position, obviously using her size and weight to keep the rails out of the water until things were lined up. Marcus and Bill set about getting the big boat positioned correctly by running adjuster lines off both sides back to the jettys.

Onshore, Eric was in control of the back hoe that firstly made sure a whole lot of mud and bits and pieces had been removed from the spot where the rails were to be laid. Then the timber and steel structure was chained to the machine and extended slowly out over the water held up by ropes and a block and tackle. With a persistant swell present in the creek due to a stiff Westerly, it took a while to get things lined up. All the while Peter of course was giving instructions as he surveyed things from his vantage point between the rails.

The trick was to get the shore end of the new rails lined up to meet with the extisting rails in the concrete apron, while making sure they ran out square. Not an easy task considering the number of variables. Marcus dropped the water end of the structure down a couple of times only to pull them up again as each of the team got used to how things would work.

In any case after about 10 minutes all seemed to be lined up and Peter made quick work of getting two of the stainless steel bolts in place, locking things together. It was then a matter of making sure the rails were still sitting straight in the water and finally it was lowered to the bottom. Eric then set about cleaning up a pile of "creek silt" that had been hauled out earlier.

Peter pointed out the two old telegraph poles that had held the old rails for just on 30 years, now sitting further up the apron. Unable to confirm their condition while they were in the water but suspecting the worst, he'd purchased two replacement poles a few weeks back and assembled the new rails on them. However once they were pulled out, it was discovered that the old timber was still in great condition, non the worst for wear after their 30 years under the water. With the most difficult part of the work now completed it only remains for the Cradle to be returned from some work being done off site and the main slip will be back in action again.