"Good morning, sir. is that PSS shipyard?", said Des. "My name is Des Kearns, I'm the manager of an old small wooden boat restoring project, the boat is 118 foot in length and her age is more than a hundred years".

"Ooh, very old and I don't think she's a small boat, but the project sounds interesting and challenging!", said Jia.

"Yeah, this is a very challenging project. The boat's name is 'Cariad'. She has a long and very interesting history. And we have the National Geographic team filming a documentary on this project too"."We have been around this area looking for a place to do this project and we got some information about your facilities".....That was the first contact between Cariad team and PSS team.

Afterward, Cariad team visited PSS and discussed together about the possibilities to do the project in PSS, also the rough idea for the cost and management systems. In that time, Cariad was in Langkawi, Malaysia. There were some works that had already started. Removed all the furniture that were inside to reveal the boat’s structure for inspection and make the restoration plan for the project. PSS team went there to oversee the boat’s condition and determined how to haul-out safely. Also arranged for the date due to the tide. Because Cariad draws 12 feet draught, and PSS is located on the Satun coast which is fairly shallow and strong currents are caused when tide changes dramatically. So she needs to travel from Langkawi to PSS only on the highest tide of the year. Her arrival is time-critical and there is no room for any mistakes. The haul-out need to be started straight away after Cariad arrived PSS’s slipway. Otherwise, we’ll have to wait for another 6 months to do it again or we may lose this project, or in the worst case - the boat will be stucked aground there and get completely damaged.

For more information, click on links below

• WWW.CARIAD1896.COM - Cariad Restoration Project's Official Website
• Des Kearns Marine Surveyor - Des Kearns's Company