MV EGREMONT’S refurbishment at Sharpness is progressing well, with volunteers from Salcombe travelling up to help with the enormous task of refitting the former Mersey ferry.

Last weekend, a working party travelled up to the dry dock in Gloucestershire to prepare the lower aft bilge and remove fixtures and fittings on the upper deck in preparation for removing the whole accommodation block.

Richard Martin from the Egremont Trust said: ‘Although it will be sad to see the cabins go, the planned new ensuite cabins will be superb and make a stay on board much more comfortable in the future.’

Last Friday, Egremont was floated out of the dry dock to make way for other ships, and work on will now continue alongside the dockyard.

All of the outside steel and aluminium has been stripped back to bare metal and the grey holding primer is described as making her ‘look like a battleship.’

The old Hamworthy treatment plant has been cut into pieces and removed from the ship, and a new plant will be installed in the lower aft bilge area, which will deal with waste and pump clean water into Salcombe Harbour on her return to the estuary.

The former Mersey ferry spent the first part of her working life crossing the river Mersey between Liverpool and Wallasey. She arrived in Salcombe in 1976 to start a new life as the base for the Island Cruising Club.

Every five years, Egremont leaves Salcombe for dry docking, surveying and maintenance. She last left the estuary for maintenance in 2008.

She left her home in the Bag on Thursday, September 29, and was towed out of Salcombe Harbour by the tugboat MTS Indus, along with a stern tug for safe passage through the harbour.

The main tug then took Egremont out to sea around Lands End, up the north coast of Cornwall and Devon and into the River Severn.

The trust have now decided that Egremont should remain at Sharpness until all the major work is done, with a view to her returning home to Salcombe in February, at the earliest.