River Survey

With the fitting of sonar to Nancy Belle and the approach of the first of this year’s river trips, the opportunity has been taken to survey the river Tamar on both spring and neap tides from Cotehele Quay up-river to past Eel island, which is just a bit further up the river from Morwellham. The purpose of the survey being to check for any fallen trees or signs of the river silting up. Along with finding the exact location of a large submerged tree that was known to be in the river, it was also found that the river bed has been eroded by about 1 meter (3 ft.) between the pillars of the Calstock railway viaduct.

Calstock viaduct dip

Submerged tree spring tide.

Navigational hazard! Submerged branch neap tide.

Now where is that tree?

It’s not been all river trips as the crew have been giving Shamrock's workboat a fresh coat of paint and she is now just about ready to go back on her mooring for the summer. The boat shed has also been cleared and all machinery checked ready for Shamrock's repairs.