 |
|
|
|
|
| |
 |
Ena in dry dock looking more like a pile of timber than a barge |
|
|
Introduction
Heavy loads
A war hero
Tough work
When they first encounter Ena, the 88-ft Thames sailing barge, the Squad think it looks more like a timberyard than a boat in dry dock. Their task is to help restore Ena in time for the first 'Barge Match' of the season. They have six months to complete the work.
|
|
| |
 |
The whole deck needs to be replaced with 20-ft planks |
|
|
Ena is a broad-bottomed 'spritsail' barge, built in 1906 for R&W Paul of Ipswich, Suffolk to carry grain around the coast of Britain. The 'sprit' is a pole, often over 100 ft long, which runs from the bottom of the mast to the head of the sail. The flat-bottomed barges have no keel; instead they have huge leeboards that can be raised and lowered to provide stability.
The Paul barges all had a white cross in the topsail so dockworkers could recognise them from a distance and be ready to load or unload them as soon as they berthed.
Ena worked as a sailing barge until 1948, then traded as a motor barge until 1974, when it went into preservation after being rerigged with sails. R&W Paul then used the barge for corporate entertainment but it was sold two years ago.
|
|
| |
 |
The Thames sailing barge with the gangplank in place |
|
|
Ena was one of the 'Dunkirk Little Ships', sent to help with the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from the Dunkirk beaches in 1940. The flat bottom meant the barge could get close to the shore, but the crew were forced to abandon ship and return to England on a Navy minesweeper. Soldiers of the East Yorkshire Regiment saw Ena anchored offshore and 40 men sailed back to England in it. Lee Hurst tracked down 88-year-old Captain Atley, one of the soldiers who escaped on the Ena.
In their heyday, there were over 2000 of these barges. Fewer than 60 remain today.
|
|
| |
 |
The massive 6-month task is over. Ena's on her way |
|
|
As the Squad quickly realise, they have taken on a massive task. All the work on the barge is heavy-duty – and Axel Cleghorn is in his element. The whole deck needs to be replaced because it is, as the shipwright describes it, 'as rotten as a pear'.
The decking planks have to be replaced using exactly the same techniques as were used at the Navy Yard in Harwich when the barge was built nearly 100 years ago. The only difference is that the Salvage Squad have power tools.
First, Claire Barratt and Jerry Thurston have to rip out the old decking with crowbars and a chainsaw. Meanwhile, Axel – an enthusiastic amateur carpenter – starts on the woodwork.
Three hundred 20-ft long, 3-in thick planks must be cut to fit on to the deck. After measuring and marking out a plank, Axel cuts it to size with a circular saw. The planks are so big that each one takes at least an hour.
Each plank then has to be drilled through every foot of its length and 9-in spikes hammered through the holes to fix it on to the deck. When the spikes have been hammered in, a punch is used to force them an inch into the plank. The gap is then filled with a wooden peg and the cracks between the planks are caulked to make them watertight.
By the time the Squad sail on Ena they have a clear idea of how much work has gone into maintaining this barge over the last century.
|
|
| |
|
