Maiden is a Global Ambassador for the Empowerment of Girls through Education
Maiden has now been home for 10 weeks and work on the restoration has been relentless. In June we constructed scaffolding and a tent round the boat as work continued to remove equipment and the dreaded foam from the interior. This was a horrendous job for the guys but they really got on with it. Howard in the meantime has been kitting out the container
whilst equipment is sorted through to determine what can be saved and restored and what is beyond help!
The blasting began in earnest on the exterior after the massive blasting equipment was delivered and surrounding the tent with straw bales to absorb some of the noise and mess.
The temperature in the tent and the noise during the blasting was horrendous. We really felt for the guys doing such a great job. When they finished blasting the old paint and filler off, primer was added as soon as possible to prevent the aluminium from oxidising in the air. And now she looks like this!
Quite a difference……
The Maiden Factor Team also spent a day on the Thames and at HMS President and St Katherine’s Dock in preparation for the launch by HRH Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein next summer.
Jo, Libby, Howard, Tracy, Mack and Kaia
St Katherine’s Dock
HMS President
And finally, a hug thank you to Mack for sorting through all the Maiden boxes which I have carted round with us for the past 27 years. Thousands of press clippings, photos, negatives and slides scanned and hundreds of items of memorabilia collated and categorised. Good job!
This coming week some of the Maiden crew will be getting back together in London for their interviews for the Maiden documentary. Really looking forward to seeing them.
That’s all for now!
Tracy Edwards
