Sorry to hear about the bad news.
Found out that the Metro (free newspaper on buses in Greater Manchester) had an article either today or yesterday about the Spirit of Cardiff, and how you were about to resume the trip. Pointed out to my dad that this is no longer the case, as the boat is now in a bad state. Shows how slow these free papers are
Still, shows that it the whole thing is of interest to people even in Manchester, a place normally sheltered from this sort of thing.
I'll see if I can find a copy of the article, and if I can, I'll get it scanned for people to see.
Ta,
Matt