Bruce quipped: > Hmm... I notice that a) the overweight alarm appears to go off just > before she hits the water and b) we don't actually see her afloat.
Ahh, not quite oh wise one ;-))) The alarm that you can hear is a reversing beeper from a nearby truck. That crane is a 100 tonner because there was a completed 59ft Sagar barge taken out of the water and dropped on to a truck for its journey down to the Thames just before Phoenix was launched. Now when he was putting that one on the truck the overload alarm was ringing, due to the reach on the jib with 27 tons on the end, but it was just like a continuous old-fashioned telephone bell. Phoenix only weighed in at 15 tons so the crane didn't even realise there was a load there ;-))) The reason that you don't see her fully in the water was that I was conserving my memory card on the still camera because I was taking loads of stills (which show her afloat nearly half an hour later ;-))). I needn't have bothered conserving the card as it happened because, after the event, I had loads of capacity left. > > Isn't it embarrassing when it just goes straight down ;-}}} > > Glad it went OK - SA's shell is due to launch next Thursday, so I've > arranged for nationwide celebrations on that night. The launch went very smoothly and quickly. The time was spent on getting the other barge on the truck. The crane could pick up Phoenix and move it around the building (a total of 270 degs) in one hit with no repositioning due to the length of he jib and the capacity of the crane. Hope all goes well with SA's launch Roger
