20/05/19
A Good Friday indeed! We got the Fish and Chips in and the Champagne on ice. Then we waited for the tide to rise. She was meant to poetically roll down the slip (earlier in the day), float on high tide and slide out of the cradle and off the slip, where she has been residing for the past 32 months – easy! Alas, the cradle was old and cranky and so, in addition to the winch, it took a lot of man-power and some crowbars to help edge her down the slip, with the cradle giving out on the last few feet. So Heron II sat higher than we intended, but we still waited eagerly and hopefully. 19.25 (high tide) arrived and nothing! Plan B – rig up the tow-bar of the trusty 4×4 and pull her off the cradle, anyone spare jump on-board to rock her and lastly, hope for that notorious tidal surge! Voilà! April 19th 2019 IS a Good Friday – Heron II finally floats again.

Rolling down the slip – video

Heron II floating again – video