Preparing the ship

Our bank were informed that the ideal ship had been found and they put the appropriate funding in place based on the promise of planning permission from Delyn Borough Council.

I got the feeling at the time that a common pattern was starting to immerge on the project, as one problem was faced down and overcome, it wasn’t long before another unexpected one came into view.

We had a ship but it was over 100 nautical miles away from where it needed to be and it was our responsibility to move it.

Enquiries were made to find a Captain to bring The Duke to its final home in North Wales and Captain Ian Metcalfe of the Carmet Tug Company in Bromborough was considered by all to be the only man for the job.

He was considered to be a bit of the maverick, but never the less a master of his trade. His services were soon secured and he assisted in ensuring the appropriate seaworthiness certificates were obtained and the insurance secured.

We also needed to deal with an unexpected piece of bureaucracy, the title The Duke of Lancaster belongs to the Queen so before the ship left Barrow it had to be reregistered to sail under another name.

I had to attend Customs house, I’m not sure if it was in Lancaster or Preston and sign as the new Captain of the ship. The name we chose was The Duke of Llanerch-y-Mor. In fact, at one stage the new name was scribed onto the side of the ship in big black letters.

British Rail had also insisted that we remove their livery, which was Sealink Green complete with the old British Rail logo emblazoned on the side, before we set sail.

I got together a team of men and traveled up to paint her. In those days we had an endless supply of volunteers wanting to help out on the project. Billy Bilsbarrow, Pat’s brother-in-law, spent a couple of weeks or more managing the painting project, and it was no easy task.

Again, it’s worth pointing some regional information and say how bloody difficult a place Barrow-in-Furness is to get to, particularly in 1979. You had to travel up the M6 to the southern edge of the Lake District and follow a very long and winding 'A' road until you think you are about to fall into the Sea. It’s also not a very hospitable place either, constantly battered by the elements.

We utilized the life boats, lowering them down the hull and painting with huge sheep skin rollers on broom handles and poles. It took over two hundred gallons of paint to complete the entire ship, which was purchased as and when needed.

The paint was provided at a much discounted price by Johnston's paints, something we very much appreciated.

Everything was ready for the journey to Llanerch-y-Mor but yet again another problem loomed, there wasn’t a crew!