A woman who sold her house to buy a boat which then sank said she "won't give up on her" as it was today brought to the surface of Canning Dock.
Today Canning Dock was drained until it was barely 1m full as part of a rescue operation to save the France-Hayhurst, a historic tugboat which sunk in the dock at the very beginning of the year. The boat was once a mainstay on the Royal Albert Dock where it floated for over a decade.
The operation to rescue the boat involved draining the dock, before loosening the boat off the floor and then re-flooding the dock, and raising the boat before towing it away to a ship yard. Owner Cathy Roberts, who bought the boat after selling her house in 2005, intends to restore it to its former glory.
READ MORE: Police's message to activists planning to glue themselves to Grand National course
Speaking to the ECHO as the work was being done: "She's done a lot in her time. I'm not about to give up on her any time soon.
"So far I'm pleased with the progress but until she's actually floating - once that happens then we'll know.
"I've got everything on how the boat was built, the original blueprints etc. I want to restore everything in her.
"When I did it the first time around it was just to get her into a seaworthy state to sail the over 800 nautical miles to bring her home.
"There's going to be a lot of work."
Before it sank, the boat was home to the Merseyside Maritime Radio Society Wallasey, a group of radio former career deep-sea radio officers and amateurs who used the boat to send Morse Code and radio signals to other such hobbyists around the globe. Much of the society's equipment was in the boat as it went down, along with some logs from Cathy's maritime family.
Yet, members said they were excited to see the boat back above water. One Member, Alan Waddinton, said: "It's going to be a long time, a couple of years maybe.
"We'd only just painted the ship grey. With anti-slip paint as well."
Get all the latest Eurovision 2023 news straight to your inbox
READ NEXT:
Join the Liverpool ECHO's WhatsApp community for breaking news and top headlines
Mum-of-four who 'lived for her kids' dies suddenly at home
Morrisons selling 55p product that kills weeds 'instantly'
Air ambulance lands in play park as child dies
John Lewis shoppers 'very impressed' with £33 'bargain summer dress'
