An OAP moves an 80 ton boat single-handedly in the middle of the night!

M'sM did it!  She got up at 01.22 am, and went out and pushed against the board put there to stop Myrtle moving too far towards the shore, and, lo and behold, she moved back out towards the river!  A few (hopefully) judicious adjustments of the mooring ropes, and she has stayed where she is meant to be .. very satisfactory!  The gang-plank is now back on the platform.

A wandering gang-plank ......

An North/Easterly wind means Myrtle has moved where she shouldn't have done . and she is now lying so that the  end of the gang plank hangs over the steps.  Unfortunately M'sM has squashed the side of her little finger whilst boarding when the end wheel of gang-plank slipped over the step after M'sM tried to get it back.
A little maneuvering with a pole means there is now a board under the errant wheel, making it less likely to jam in that position when Myrtle is moved again.

The drop off the end of the gang-plank!

A strategically placed board to allow the wheel to run back onto the landing.

The mooring ropes are too tight for Myrtle's Missus to get them adjusted at low tides, and she missed this afternoon's high tide, so it will have to be a nocturnal adjustment.  High tide being at 1.28 am. It is all Myrtle's Missus' fault too .. she was trying to adjust the angle at which Myrtle is lying to take full advantage of the view, but now there is the beautiful new window that really isn't necessary, and it is probably best to keep the East/West orientation completely in order to take full advantage of the sun on the decks at both ends, and the view from the lovely window ....  Ah well, it's all a learning curve.. !

A New Boat tries to get in

At the far end, beyond the footbridge, an old boat has been dismantled, and they tried to bring in a 3 storey passenger  ferry yesterday .. however the very high tide was depressed by the high atmospheric pressure and the tide did not rise high enough, leaving her stranded on the mud ..
She is called Shieldsman, and worked at North Shields, crossing the Tyne. Wikipedia says:-
The Shieldsman was built by Hancock Shipbuilders of Pembroke Dock and entered service in 1976. The ferry is double ended, and can operate either way, however they typically work one way, and turn around as part of the crossing over the Tyne. It can carry 350 passengers in public service, or a reduced capacity of 250 on private hire. The Shieldsman was retired early in 2007, at the age of 30, to be replaced by the new The Spirit of the Tyne. Nexus sold the Shieldsman in 2008 to a private buyer from the Portsmouth area, who chose to remain anonymous.
So here she is, lying on the mud waiting for the next tide ..






































and some more pictures of her ..

the 'pool' is where she will lie.

she will be berthed the other side of the green and white boat.

When I came by this afternoon, she was lying in the right place, so they must have managed to float her in on the midnight tide. 

Oyster catchers, egrets and a kingfishers

This weeks new birds ...
Three oyster catchers ..

and an egret flying ..

and a kingfisher trying to eat a large (for it) fish

and swallowed ...

and a little grebe ..

Out in Bootlebumtrinket today ..

It was such a beautiful day today with another very high tide, so first K ..

and then Myrtle's Missus ....