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So you decided on purchasing a new Piper Boat and maybe visited their Biddulph site to see it being constructed, the idea of spending the weekend on it there is a great way to identify the snags and get them dealt with whilst still on site. So your new pride and joy gets loaded up for delivery, and some enthusiastic owners (us) may want to see it on the road, so Nick arranges with the driver to call us when due in Caversham and he did so, we have a great video of the boat coming off the Thames Bridge into Caversham.
We then caught up with it again just in the entrance to the long private drive into T&K Marine were the boats are launched, all the traffic was backed up and stationary as the truck couldn't get past a parked van, presumably gone fishing, why no 'WIDE LOAD NOTICE' when a delivery is expected ! - So six of us 'bumped' the van over, but the driver was still concerned about the overhanging tree branches below the Wheelhouse Roof and the thorny bushes at Gunwale height, thank goodness we were present, we got a ladder from the van behind and a hand saw from the van in front and got on the boat. As the driver inched forward Phillip cut away the boughs some three inches across, without this the paintwork damage would have been extensive, as it was it scratched up the Port Wheelhouse corner some back to bare metal in other places it was just scratched up.
The Piper Crew coming the other way were 'on the case' cleaning the exposed metal down and getting primer on it so it can be painted hopefully tomorrow.
But after all the hard work that goes into producing your new boat why on earth is this allowed to happen, so don't go and see your wonderful new vessel being delivered unless you are strong of heart and handy with a saw !!!
And tomorrow we have more trees and bushes to get past as the truck stops overnight halfway down the lane and we WILL be back onboard at 07.45 with a saw, maybe someone will have one that's sharp this time !!!
So sorry for you. The trees must have grown a lot since our 65m launch there 5years ago, and no-one presumably feeling responsible for trimming them. Fingers crossed that you are now afloat and aboard.
