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Raising the QE2
by Captain Roger Jolly, Rtd.

A new consortium of New York hoteliers is planning the most ambitious oceanic salvage operation ever attempted. They have retained the services of deep-sea engineers Water Works, to oversee the raising of Cunard Lines' Queen Elizabeth II. Last of the great North Atlantic express liners; the QE2 sank 600k northeast of Bermuda after hurricane Higgins swept across the North American basin last October.

Following the Queen Mary's sale to California, and the sabotage of the Queen Elizabeth anchored in Hong Kong during the late 1960s; Cunard maintained the royal lineage with launch of the replacement QE2, on her maiden voyage to New York in 1969. Often called "the most luxurious and expensive passenger ship in the world" the QE2 was once used to ferry British troops to the South Atlantic Malvinas Islands (formerly known as the Falklands, when invaded by Argentina in the early 1980s). Now the QE2 lies in 8000 feet of water awaiting next season's lifting operation.
Q.E.2 wreck image by Kerry Earl
Preparations for this task are underway as teams of WW divers ready the wreck for surfacing, and world famous mariner Jake Cristo recently spoke of the difficulties involved: "We've got the vessel's original plans and blueprints of all refit modifications, and everybody who goes into the wreck has trained in VR tanks, so the salvage crew know their way around. Despite some damage to decks and bow, the hull checks out and of course her nuclear power plant was shutdown and made safe when Navy guys took the bodies off." 1 of the victims that went down with the ship was Prince William, travelling to New York on an official engagement whilst the Royal yacht Britannia was being overhauled.

"Having only been down a comparatively short time, QE2 is in reasonably good condition," notes Cristo. "This won't be anything like the messy job they had cleaning up the Titanic." Like the Queen Mary and the Titanic, QE2 will eventually be transformed into a harbour hotel and tourist attraction, perhaps to become the most prestigious and exclusive of them all.

The Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship, crossing the Atlantic in her heyday. 		QE2
Oddvert 
art by Alain Valet
Come and see the Great Equinox Ceremony on 29 February with Grand Magi Hubert O'Grady presiding. Tickets are available now for traditional druid sky worship at the famous open-air megalithic temple on Salisbury Plain. See the splendour of the ancient standing stones. Hear genuine 'live' music played without amplification or electronic augmentation.
Monsterock
- Festival - Stonehenge

Pagan bands and solo artistes billed...
  • POSSUM RAY AND THE OPIUM DEN
  • THE BARDIC NOSEPICKERS UNION
  • THE PAGAN GYPSIES
  • NILES FROM NORFOLK
  • THE BAREFOOT WITCHES
  • THE GALLOPING FAERIES
  • THE CROP CIRCLE COUSINS
  • ISMARELDA'S HAIRDO
  • KING WILLY'S NILLY
  • DRUID WOOD

    •
    Plus: Exquipeuss Jones and the Welsh Philharmonic Orchestra, the King Richard Puddle Jumpers Dance Troope, and for a strictly limited, 1-time engagement only, the Ghost of Jimi Hendrix will porform God Save The Queen on Spanish guitar!
    Sponsorship by the Stone Huggers Guild of England ... As usual,
    New Zealand lambs and the Sons of Job are not invited.
    text by Steve Sneyd, with Michael Lohr
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