Size matters..

Hotwells looks over..

The mighty dock gate holds back the Avon.

Mussels & Head chef Matt Woods (right)

Get the scraper out..

..and then there's the smaller, finner things in life. I had been telling every one that there would be load of barnacles and limpets that had stuck on with time and that we would have to get our bottom scrapped but there were none. Instead there were loads of 'fresh' water mussels, a little smaller than your average mussels but mussels none the less. Like all mussels when they arrive in the kitchen they're covered in gunk which is pain stakingly cleaned off before they're plopped in your moules mariniere, nice. For a laugh I asked the chef his thoughts on a nice mussel broth.. I think I insulted his talent as he told me to piss off! Should add at this point that our mussels that do reach the tables are brought in fresh, daily from St Mawes in Cornwall, just in case your wondering.

But even though the boat seemed big, the dry dock that she is in accommodates her with ease.

Seeing the boat out of water really brings home the shear size of her... she's huge. 105 foot from bow to stern but when you're standing with her hull at waste height she seems double that. Also being this close and out of water reminds me of that life size model blue whale at the history museum which is also out of water, massive and strangely wrong.

Ghost ships

After months of talk and preparation, we've done the last shift, packed up, organised the closure and now finally we have come to find our new home for the next 3 months. My first trip to the dry dock was great if not a little eary, with huge old cranes. The only sound is the wind whistling through lots of defunct and resting boats of all sorts on stilts, the place is vast yet still very strongly imposing. There's not a soul in site which adds to the earyness, its like a boat grave yard and I remember that Long John Silver from Treasure Island was from Bristol.. too busy to be messing with ghosts.. get a grip. If you get a chance to get a look around the marina and dry dock it's well worth a visit although you will have to pre arrange.

Empty void

With a full on head wind it was great to get through Princes Bridge unscathed and into the big opening. Plain sailing now to the dry docks where we will come to rest for the next 3 months.
I went back to Welsh Back to look at the empty void that She had left behind and must say that that it felt weird after coming to work here for the last 7 years that it was gone... But I knew she would be back soon.

Only clues remain that would indicate she was here.. a roped up gang plank entrance.. an old menu board...

Bristol docks are full of good stuff, here She is with a Naval Frigate and the Lloyds building....

Coming up to Princes bridge and just squeezing through with an inch to spare....

Fantastic one off view of the boat with St Mary's in the background and the iconic Georgian town houses....

She slips through Redcliffe Bridge nicely.....

The thoughtful eccentric Swede and the Estranged Glastonbury legend find a nice spot at the bow and wave to onlookers, there's quite a gathering.

Set Sail - we're off!

It's Mother's day and the boat is due to be tugged away to the dock yard at 10am. Yesterday we had a bit of a job removing the gang planks as they had almost welded themselves on with shear use. I estimate that since we opened in 1986 that over half a million people have crossed the gang planks to come and eat on the Glassboat, here's to the next half. It took 7 of us to get the final gang plank off, it was as if she didn't want to be disconnected, but we did in the end and heavy they are too.
After the Harbour master has come and linked up a couple of dwarfed tug boats we unleash the metal safety cables and with suspended breath the Glassboat is freely floating, not rolling over or sinking, the rocks are doing their jobs. 10 o'clock on the dot and the tug boats rev up all they can to shift the almighty weight of this 140 seater, managing after a couple of pensive minutes to generate some sort of momentum. The weather is great, blue sky and sunny, but the incoming north wind is strong and freezing which we thought could be a problem. The wind was bashing her around a bit and it could prove tricky for the already hard working tuggers to negotiate the narrow paths through Redcliffe bridge and Princes bridge.

They do a great job as the Glassboat is majestically sailing down the floating harbour, a very strange site indeed.

Demolition

It's Monday March the 6th and work starts straight away. We're due to head off to the dry docks in 2 weeks time and there's a lot of ripping out to be done. Firstly all the stuff needs taking out and storing, then we can start dismantling all the old fixtures and fittings, luckily the chefs are here to help and what a great team they are too. I have about a weeks worth of work for them, but they seem to plough through it all in just 2 days. We are all amazed at just how much rubbish is made with the skip being needed to be emptied regularly.

I thought that maybe I should store all of the wine at my house for safe keeping but had a reality check as I knew that there is no way that I could trust myself with all of those filthy old reds, try explaining that one! Instead our wine suppliers Great Western Wine based over in Bath have ideally conditioned storage and offer to pick it all up and keep it all in safe hands, what service!

Once the kitchen has gone, all the wiring and plumbing removed, the old loos excavated all that remains are the rocks. Little did I know but there is about 2 tonnes of rocks under what was the toilets, acting as ballast to counter act the weight of the kitchen at the other end of the boat, bloody miracle we never sunk. With the kitchen gone, all the rocks all need moving to the center of the boat in order to maintain balance, crucial for when we actually set sail. Another job for the chefs who are now labeled the S.S.S. ('serious shit shifters') If it needs moving they can do it.

Soon the boat is empty and looking incredibly sad, I can hardly imagine it as a restaurant either in the past or in the future, all that's left to do is draw up the gang planks and prepare for voyage.

March 3rd 07, our last night

It's the boat's last night for 3 months and my last night as manager for ever, for after 7 years of service I'm moving into the Glass boat office. There's been countless proposals, countless wedding ceremonies, streakers, food & wine out of this world, huge parties with endless champagne, actors and celebs inc Jenifer Love Hewitt, Geri Halliwell, Pete Posalthwaite, Sophie Ellis Bexter, Jethro Tull, Holby city and the odd balls of the Casualty crew and the last night was to be no exception with a dinner reservation for the one hit wonders Right Said Fred. Very bizarre end to an era. The service was nice and smooth, but we all couldn't help feeling a little nostalgic, aarrrhhh! anyway the last customer left and we opened a bottle of champagne and drank to good times, killed the lights and left silence and darkness behind us as I set the alarm and shut the door on the old Glassboat forever.

3 months off

After sitting down and putting this whole project into perspective it's decided that dry docking this time around will have to be for three months instead of the usual one. With such a prolonged loss of business and a quick count up of whats needed to be spent its becoming very apparent that this is a very serious operation and that timing would be crucial. Usually we dry dock in Jan as this is one of the quieter months, but this time being 3 months, we couldn't afford to lose Feb as this is a strong month due to all the romantics out there enjoying Valentines, so we decide that March, April and May are as good a time as any to be off. Easter hols are always a bit of a let down anyway. We are to trade up to and including Saturday 3rd March and then close for 3 whole months. The staff are excited but I tell them that there's no rest for the wicked as our sister restaurant 'Spy Glass' (http://www.spyglassbristol.co.uk/) will be opening around that time, now in Her 6th season as a barbecue and grill boat just 100 meters down river there's plenty to be getting on with there. However there is a general air of anticipated excitement as staff are starting to think what fun they could have with a load of lump hammers and an old restaurant!
Closure is announced and the date for setting sail (or rather being tugged) is set for 18th March... Mother's day. I'm thinking of taking my ma for lunch at the Spy Glass and watching as the old Gal sails past (Glass Boat that is) ... should be quite a surreal moment, cameras ready!
Destination Charles Hill Dock Yard, Bristol.

This Old Gal needs some lovin'

Before Christmas last year I was having doubts as to whether this boat could take another Christmas trading on-slaught. The fact that we're so popular as a Christmas party venue because we're a boat means that all of the boats amenities were to be in for another full on battering once more, the poor old kitchen, the tired carpets, the churning systems, cranks and shafts could they all keep going for one more silly Santa season? Of course they could, this boat was built to last by 'skilled craftsmen', (well a thoughtful eccentric Swede and an estranged Glastonbury festival legend who both know a thing or two when it comes to boats). What was really itching away at me was that after 21 years of serving great food was that this old gal needed some tender loving care. She needs treating, in fact positively spoiling and why not. 21 years is a great innings for any restaurant and the shear fact that it's Her 21st is more than a good enough reason to get our imaginations going, the cheque book out and the excitement juices flowing, lets do it!
What shall we do then? chef said: er.. new kitchen, I said: er...new restaurant, Owners said: er... how about a new hull!! This is serious TLC.

We're getting our bottom scraped!

Every five years or so all the moored floating vessels are required to be inspected for sea worthiness and the Glass Boat is no exception. This involves a pain staking job of closing the restaurant down, tugging the boat to the dock yard, getting sorted and then back all as quick as possible. Our five years are up and we're off, March 18th (mother's day) due for our grand return at the start of June. This is a fly on the wall blog of our plans, thoughts, tears and laughter of our dry docking and refurb experience.