“Steaming Up” – Issue 5 - September 2002

No Jam ‘ole run.
A word from our chairman - David Powell

Dear Friends,

I thought I should put a few words together for this edition of ‘Steaming Up’. Firstly I am sure you will all agree that Simon has done a great job in keeping us all in touch with the restoration project and we all thank him. ‘President’ is nearly completed, Kildare is nearly finished – but!

Unfortunately I have to tell you that we have reluctantly decided to cancel all planned trips for this year including the ‘Jam ‘ole Run’. As I write this (mid August) all the pipe work has to be installed and tested. We then have to run trials, learn how to use all the new bits so the time has run out. Dave Stott and his small team have done a great job so far, but the big challenge is about to begin with the fitting out of the engine room. We must not rush to finish everything the very high standard of work to date has to be maintained to the end. It is now nearly 2 years since we arrived back from Waltham Abbey our last trip out under steam. We are all aware of the fantastic amount of work that has been done over this period.

We are now very close to the end of this major project and the time is approaching for some serious planning for the future. Times have changed and Friends of President has to change as well. We are living in a world of litigation and we have to protect the Society, the Museum and ourselves. We are therefore, unfortunate as it may be, going to have to live by a few more rules than we have in the past. The museums insurance company is now insisting on a level of training and certification for all users of exhibits and equipment, we have to put this in place before the boats are back in full service. We are working on this and we are determined to maintain our open approach to membership and crewing.

Over the next few months we will be holding a number of seminars at the museum to bring current crewmembers up to date. This is not going to be a problem issue and will only strengthen us as a group and enable us to operate the boats better in a safe environment. I would welcome any member’s ideas and help with this project so please do hesitate to let me know your thoughts. We also have a considerable amount of money yet to find so please keep working on that, sell more raffle tickets, send in your money and counterfoils, and if you have any spare send in donations (with gift aid please) 2003 is going to be a busy year for Friends of President so please continue with your support and we will all have a great year.

Best wishes Dave Powell

Engineering progress report is here

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