May 2001

Tuesday 1st May 2001

We were visited by John Getty of PDS Engineering and Glynn Bowsher today. Although they weren't directly involved with Bluebird, they are seriously involved in the Quicksilver project. They brought a beautiful cast resin model of the new boat to show me. I carefully placed it on top of the photocopier whilst explaining that they would forget to take it away and I could then keep it. They explained that the last thing they would do would be to leave without it, so the last thing they did was leave without it. Thanks guys it looks great on the office desk.

Quicksilver is being built of a similar material to the old Bluebird and we have an example of a genuine accident. Tragic as it was, it provided the engineers with vital information that can be used in the new project to improve safety. Glynn had a serious look at Bluebirds engine mountings and showed me some excellent pics of Quicksilver's partially complete spaceframe. We also discussed rescue scenarios and the problems with staying alive in that lake. We've probably got more experience than anyone of putting divers down in the deeper parts of Coniston water and we certainly have an unrivalled knowledge of what's down there. Hopefully we can be of assistance to the team.

John and Glynn inspect the cockpit The tail's off at last After getting the bolts that hold the tail on out we're looking for a gynaecologist to put them back in

Wednesday 2nd May 2001

Mud mud all around, apart that is from the dozens of flotation bags that have filled with crystal clear lake water. They appear to be perfectly sealed only full of water. It was difficult to slurp the mud out of the engine compartment because of all the stator blades in the bottom and it's buoyancy bags in the back end. There are also bits of wood, cardboard and what appears to be one of Donald's old shirts that's been stuffed in a hole and is now soaked in paraffin. The fumes were overpowering when it came out. Our mysterious piece of string extends forewards through the next two bays from its anchorage on the lead ingots, without revealing what it's tied to, the next bay is full of mud still but there are only two to go. In one of them is the hydraulic equipment for the water brake which is mounted low down in the hull on the left hand side. Opposite that on the right hand side is a strange box with its lid held on with seatbelt type material. I think we'll have to peer in there tomorrow. There is only one tricky bit left to clean now. There are, or rather were, two heatshields made by Mr Heath Robinson and clashed in the most haphazard fashion into the lower hull. We pulled them out and threw them on the floor. Foreward of them is a proper heatshield that is part of the structure and it obviously harks back to the Beryl installation. It's sure to be full of mud but there's no way of getting in there. We'll think of something. Does anyone want a buoyancy bag? They're stinking of mud and paraffin with about 3 pints of water in each. The perfect present for Christmas or Birthdays! For an extra few quid we'll put a goldfish in there.

8th May 2001

At last, the mud is all cleaned out of the hull. We jacked up the front end of the cradle to make the water (and mud) run to the back where the hull is fairly tight. Then we installed a long length of piping from the inside of the hull at the rear to the drain outside and finally we set about the inside of the hull with a pressure washer.

It's absolutely spotless in there now! It's probably cleaner than it ever was if the bits of old rag wedged in among everything are anything to go by. There was obviously a fuel leak or quite a spillage because the rags are soaked in paraffin and it stinks when they are pulled out, that's as well as the detrimental effect that they have on the hoover from hell.

We also got to the other end of the mysterious bit of string that's tied to one of the bolts holding the lead ingots. It goes foreward through three frames until it turns right and extends across the boat under the turbine. Then it turns right again and comes all the way back to the stern of the boat where it's tied off to a piece of box section. It was complimented with a piece of wood about 18 inches by 4 inches by half an inch thick which was shoved between the underside of the jetpipe and the heatshields. It all seems to be the means by which the additional heat shielding material (which is still on the floor waiting to be hosed off and put back) was secured into the lower hull. It was tied in with string and wedged down with a bit of wood! What was it Donald said about "advanced engineering"!!

What on earth are we going to do with all those filthy buoyancy bags as well? I suppose they could go back in there but they'll need a good wash first. In actual fact they were a complete waste of time. If the boat had flooded they would have been easily pushed under the surface where they would have collapsed due to water pressure almost immediately.

Now that the rest of the mud is out of there we'll have to wait for it all to dry properly, it'll get a coat of clear wax and we can think about putting the tail back on.

Our survey boat "Predator" left Coniston on Saturday, she's on Ullswater at the moment on another job. There are still some bits of Bluebird on the bottom of Coniston water and we'll return to pick them up later in the year.

	Predator leaves Coniston Bill and Beanie arrive at Ullswater
	The team Cruise to Howtown for a night out Novie disciplines the team

Cleaning of the inner hull is almost complete, it's spotless in there now. We'll put the heatshields back in (under their string!) and put the tail back on again.

I keep hearing the same question, "how much is this costing?" the reality is that it's costing no more than it takes to power a few fluorescent tubes and buy a few tins of WD40. There are one or two other chemicals but in all honesty it amounts to so little that it's not worth discussing. It's all been done under expert guidance so if there was anything expensive I would have been told about it long ago. This whole project has been handled by volunteer enthusiasts and it's quite disgusting that money should be constantly brought into it.

We discovered a spanner in the bottom of the hull, it is exactly the right size for the 10 million bolts!! how's that for irony. It presumably belonged to Leo or Donald. I'd love to know what was said when it clattered down into the lower recesses of the hull. It was perfectly preserved by all the spilled paraffin down there. It's almost time to put the tail and the engine cover back on. There's a bit of work to do on the paintwork but the situation is that Bluebird is now in a position where if left untouched, she will be perfectly OK. It would be possible to work on her forever depending on what level of restoration is chosen but that can be done by vounteers when she gets to the museum. Grants will be available for any further work should the services of a professional conservation expert be required. All we need now is for the powers that be to give permission for the museum to house her and work can begin to "home port" her in Coniston village.

The hull is as clean as it gets Genuine bluebird spanner

Friday 18th May

Today we were visited by Ken Norris and his friend Alan Tallet. What can I say about Ken, in the world of speed record breaking, the successes of Ken and Lew Norris will be a hard act to follow.

Both Ken and Alan are real characters, they told us a delightful story of their efforts to fly a plane with which neither of them were familliar. They couldn't find the switch for the instrument lights nor could they find some of the essential flight controls, to make matters worse, neither of them knew the flying characteristics of the aircraft and it was getting dark. They took it aloft anyway with the aid of Ken's pocket torch and a convenient full moon. They finally decided that it would be a good idea to put it down again and by taking advantage of the moonlight, they landed it safely although by that time they were without the help of Ken's torch. Its batteries had gone flat.

Is it any surprise that Ken was able to make speed record vehicles work?

To be Continued.

Ken and Alan inspect some of the cockpit Ken shows Bill a model of Bluebirds' spaceframe

19th May 2001

The Bluebird Project team enjoyed a fantastic night at the Marillion gig in Manchester. We were looked after by the band, for those who don't know this already, it was one of their songs that inspired the Bluebird Project in the first place. It's called "Out of This World" from the album "Afraid of Sunlight" and it's a sad haunting song about Donald Campbell and Bluebird. The guys played it on Saturday and it got a fantastic reception from the fans that packed out the Manchester Academy. As well as that we discovered that there's a big thanks to the Bluebird Project in the sleeve of the new album "Anoraknaphobia". We ate too many kebabs, drank too much cheap lager and ended up a little worse for wear.

When we'd recovered sufficiently to get moving we moved in slow convoy to Coniston for Sunday dinner in the Black Bull. Later we were joined by "Corporal" Paul Evans and his good Lady. We hired a painfully slow electric boat from the long suffering Dave Coxon at the boating centre and went for a cruise down to the crash site. We expect to be back on the lake next week with a boatload of refurbished kit to lift a couple of interesting bits. Of course, we'll let you all know how it goes.

Steve Hogarth and Marillion at Manchester Academy

23rd May 2001

Today we travelled to London to have a sneak preview of the documentary. It is currently scheduled to appear on BBC1 on Tuesday June 12 at 9.00pm so make sure that you're either in the house or that your video is set.

Our producer man, Mike Rossiter has been back in his true environment for a few weeks now that the project is finished and he's got over his hypothermia. He's been working night and day to put together a programme that captures the true spirit of what we've been trying to achieve and it's amazing. He may be a little lost when it comes to the technicalities of mixed gas rebreather diving but he knows his way around a cutting room and the part of the programme where Bluebird comes out of the water is very emotional. Each to their own eh?

We checked out the finished product just in case there were any glaring technical errors and apart from a mention of "oxygen narcosis" which does not commonly afflict divers, it was flawless. (Told you he wasn't a diver though)

There is one beautiful scene where Tonia and I are looking over the side of the barge at the wreck hanging on it's bags. The tailfin is out of the water and Bluebird's outer casing is awash, there are press, divers, sightseers and police everywhere and I say "Well, would Donald have enjoyed all this????"

You'll just have to watch the documentary to see what she had to say but it made us both smile.

Actually, one thing that gratified me immensely, watching the film, is the fact that everyone is excitied and smiling. I didn't have time to notice on the day, we were just too highly strung, exhausted and detached from reality to take it all in. There are some very sad people out there who interpret any sort of joviality as a subtle form of disrespect towards Donald Campbell. They forget that he was as much into drinking and womanising as the worst of us, yet he was a most caring, kind, and generous man who could have been anything that he wanted to be. His bravery and determination went so very far beyond what most individuals could ever hope to match. He loved and lived life to the full. He was spectacular in his life and even more spectacular in his death. Having met most of his family and friends over the past few months I think I'm in a position to comment. Why should we all walk about with long faces because he died? it's certainly not what he would have wanted.

I must get round to telling more tales of Ken's visit, maybe tomorrow.

We can confirm that at 12 noon on May 28th 2001, we recovered to the surface of Coniston water, a body that we believe at this time to be that of Donald Campbell. This is of course, subject to official confirmation and doubtless we will be informed in due course by the media.

We carried out a detailed and systematic survey with the intention of locating Donald's body and we did so at the request of Gina Campbell. She asked us to get her Dad back and as far as we were concerned, if Gina wanted him back then we were going to make every effort to locate him.

The body was very carefully recovered in strict accordance with a plan designed between the local Coroner ourselves and the Police. Once recovered the casket was draped with a Union Flag and brought ashore at Pier Cottage, the place from which Donald left in 1967.

Everyone involved in the recovery was in total agreement that it was the right thing to do and now Donald can be given a fitting funeral. He will finally be able to rest in peace for there could never be any peace at the bottom of that grim lake with his family wondering what became of him