A woman is "devastated" after she sold her house to buy a boat which then sunk in Canning Dock.
Cathy Roberts' boat the France Hayhurst currently lies on the bottom of the Canning Dock after the boat started to sink at the beginning of the year. An area around the boat, which lies in the water just off the entrance to the Albert Dock from the strand, has been cordoned off as a rescue operation was put together to raise it.
The boat has been an attraction in Liverpool for years, but it has also served as Cathy's home since 2005 after she sold her home at the time and bought the boat. Cathy told the ECHO in 2010 how she sold her house to purchase the boat, and spent three and a half years fixing it up.
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Cathy is now putting together a rescue operation to raise her beloved boat from the water. The plan will cost thousands and could involve lowering the water levels of the Canning Dock a few metres to aid in pulling it out of the water.
She told the ECHO: "When she sank I was devastated.
"She was built in 1937. I just fell in love with her and decided then that's what what I would do with my life for the next few years.
"The bottom of the vessel is resting on the bottom of the dock. To get her up we need to drain the dock, then after the dock is drained a few metres and we'll get hydraulic pumps and use them to pump the water out.
"I don't think we'll ever know what caused the problem. We know we've got a massive, massive challenge to get her surfaced."
Once surfaced Cathy wants to use the boat to inspire women and girls to engage in maritime industries as only 2% of of the maritime workforce are women. Cathy herself comes from a family of seamen and her grandfather was a captain for 50 years.
She added: "My family have a background in maritime history. All the men in my family went to sea.
"She means a lot to a lot of people. It's not just me who is invested in the boat."
You can find the fundraiser to help Cathy raise the boat here.
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