 
Barangaroo Bungle
Under the agreement negotiated by the NSW government’s Barangaroo Delivery Authority, the development company, Lend Lease, is to be allowed to construct a peninsula protruding 150 metres out from the north eastern edge of Darling Harbour.
This vast concrete arm is to form the base upon which a 230 metre tall hotel is to be erected.
Although the concept plan for Barangaroo does not allow reclaiming the Harbour or building higher than 180 metres, the Authority has approved Lend Lease’s non-complying design on the grounds that it is so good that it is likely to win planning approval when the development Application is lodged.
But everyone who knows and loves Sydney Harbour will be fervently hoping that this piece of lunacy goes no further. It is a precedent that clearly amounts to privatising what has hitherto been jealously guarded as a publicly-owned waterway.
Quite apart from any arguments over public-private ownership and the dubious aesthetics of the development’s Dubai-style architecture, no one seems to have given any serious thought to the potentially disastrous consequences on the water.
Building such a barrier out into one of the busiest commercial waterways in the Harbour invites catastrophe.
Vessels underway in both the inbound and outward bound channels will have no clear view of each other until their courses converge in the area immediately to the west of the proposed peninsula.
By greatly restricting their room to manoeuvre, commercial vessels including the charter boats that are already among the biggest vessels on the Harbour, will be obliged to proceed with extreme caution to avoid collision. With hundreds of people onboard, it does not take any great imagination to envisage the potential for a maritime disaster.
The cash-strapped NSW Government stands to make hundreds of millions of dollars from this proposed development, but this is one instance where the government needs to consider not money but the needs of the people they were elected to serve.
Bruce Stannard AM,
Shell Cove.
Bark Endeavour’s Safety System
In reference to your editorial in January Afloat. While the ANMM are to be commended for their introduction of the safe working aloft system on board the Endeavour replica, it should be brought to notice that this system is far from unique, being initially developed and installed on board the Navy operated sail training ship Young Endeavour in 2001.
In June 2001, the ship was part way through a circumnavigation of Australia carrying youth crews on voyages between major ports around the coast. At that period there was a fair amount of media attention on public liability issues and just as the ship reached Mackay their supplier of harnesses advised the ship’s management that they were withdrawing all warranties and certifications for their safety harnesses as they were being used on board in a manner obviously outside of their normal land-based design constraints.
This action obviously directly affected the ship’s own public liability policies so called for an urgent plan of action to rectify the situation or else the circumnavigation and all of its long range planning would be in real jeopardy.
The management team then made contact with the Department of Defence’s Centre for Maritime Engineering (CME) and industrial rope access specialist firm TRAC International who then formed a team to investigate, design, install and certify an acceptable safety fall arrest system that would comply with all possible standards that could be either utilized or be adapted to suit shipboard usage.
Every potential part of the system was evaluated and then physically tested in the TRAC factory before the team met the ship in Darwin and set to work to install a series of static lines on each mast and all yards. Every anchor point was physically load tested and certified before acceptance.
An interesting aside was spending many hours suspended from a shoreside crane, working at the head of the masts and having to regularly chase the ship down as it fell away in Darwin’s very rapid 11-metre tidal ebb.
One of the more difficult compliances was to ensure that any person falling was limited to no more than a 600mm free fall as prescribed in standard AS 4488, a task made more difficult on the yards where we had to provide a usable system where many people usually team together to set or furl the sails.
Before Young Endeavour left Darwin the fall arrest system had been fully installed and tested, the permanent crew had been thoroughly trained in its use, and the process of formal certification was put in place by CME. Team members then met the ship in Broome and then Fremantle for further fine tuning.
The installation was immediately considered a success and has proven to be a very safe method for inexperienced youth to work aloft in a sometimes hostile environment. The circumnavigation was completed without incident, as it has for the many thousands of sea miles since. Young Endeavour has just completed another very successful full circumnavigation.
In 2001 we tried to interest other tall ship operators in this system but they appeared to be reluctant to change their usual ways. I guess it was just ahead of its time.
Rod Brennan,
Centre for Maritime Engineering
Sydney
Labor goes the gouge
In separate letters, David Colfelt and Rob Dell respectively make mention (Afloat Jan’10) of the 30% increase in mooring fees east of the Harbour Bridge, and the recent loss of the Refuge Bay garbage pontoon.
Both writers appear to bemoan the actions of our bankrupt Labor government, and when viewed in the wider context, there seems plenty of justification for this.
In 1998, Bob Carr re-drafted the calculation for charging boat registration fees. He decided that ‘longer’ boats would pay more, and ‘shorter’ boats would pay less, even though all received exactly the same ‘service and benefit’ in return for the fee (i.e, a sticker).
To end up on the good end of Bob Carr’s calculation, your boat needed to be less than 3.8m long. The new revenues were supposedly directed to ‘environmental outcomes’ … yet he was making it more expensive to own a wind-powered yacht, and cheaper to own a jet-ski.
Many will remember this dramatic increase in boat registration fees 10 years ago (it is important to note these registration fees have nothing to do with mooring fees, where larger swept areas rightly attract a larger fee).
The Carr Labor government also changed the calculation of wet lease fees for those who own waterfront facilities, causing great anguish for many old salts on fixed incomes, and simply gouging countless others, whose vote held no importance to Labor.
We now see the loss of the Refuge Bay garbage pontoon. This facility drew on funds from National Parks and Wildlife Service (part of NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change), and NSW Maritime.
The government claims the pontoon had been misused, with unsuitable rubbish dumped there. It is difficult to imagine that many illegal dumpers would seek to load their vessel and then choose Refuge Bay as a preferred dumping site. This reeks of an excuse of convenience, neatly spun to cut spending in an area where again, the votes generally hold no importance to Labor.
I see Liberal MPs Rob Stokes and Jonathan O’Dea have taken up the pontoon issue in the interests of commonsense trumping Labor’s desperate madness. One practical thing boaties could do is send these MPs a message of support, to help them gauge the importance we place in the facility.
As for the 30% mooring fee hike east of the bridge, this was one of Eric Roozendaal’s ‘tough decisions’ in his last state budget. Those west of the bridge? Watch this space.
Yes, David Colfelt, it is time for some indignation, but let it not be quiet – we’ve been a soft touch for too long.
Mitch Geddes,
Glades Bay.
Garbage pontoons
I very much agree with Rob Dell ‘Vale the garbage pontoon in Refuge Bay’ (Afloat Jan’10).
We were enjoying the Hawkesbury and surrounds over the Christmas/New Year with friends and it was very disappointing to find the pontoon gone!
The burden on the surrounding clubs is enormous and no doubt more costly.
How on earth do we get it replaced?
Rene Chapman,
Willoughby.
Let’s not rubbish the Hawkesbury
Taking the rubbish bins away from these areas is asking for trouble.
So many boaties want to do the right thing but others will foul our waterways.
Let’s ask the question! Is it worth the trouble to empty a few bins in one area or hire equipment and people to clean up scattered waste over many miles of foreshores and waterways?
Common sense should prevail but we are dealing with people who are looking to keep their jobs.
Wake up and smell the clean air because it won’t last if you start playing Russian Roulette with boat owners and our waterways.
Geoff Darmody,
Round Corner.
Rubbish in waterways
I am in utmost sympathy with Rob Dell about the garbage pontoon at Refuge Cove.
While responsible waterways users will bring back home their garbage, as we have always done, there will always be the larrikins who will dump their garbage into our (their?) waterways.
Upon reading Rob’s letter, I bristled at the thought of plastic bags fouling propellers, log impellors and other underwater fittings.
A plastic bag sucked onto or into an engine cooling system equals a seized engine equals fire risk equals personal injury etc. Plus a lee-shore vessel cannot manoeuvre as per Col Regs (and only a professional will have a flag locker, and know what to fly) and on it goes.
This disabled vessel will require a rescue vessel (which also faces the same danger from lurking plastic bags) to take it to a safe place. Extend the thought to the potential consequences.
My hackles rose; as I have towed home small craft which had a plastic bait bag across the outboard leg intake holes, props totally fouled, and two trawlers from sea to Newcastle Harbour.
In 1975 I very strictly enforced that there would be no rope or plastic of any kind enter the sea from any of my ships, and acquired suitable containers for same.
Alan Chapman (Master Mariner),
Warners Bay.
Mooring Apparatus
Further to Peter Mason’s letter I agree that NSW Maritime does not publish any sort of standards regarding the construction of mooring devices (Afloat Jan’10). But NSW Maritime in Sydney may have a partial answer to your mooring concerns.
When obtaining a mooring site from NSW Maritime one is simply using a small area of sea bed with their permission year by year. You have no lease arrangement at all and NSW Maritime accepts no responsibility for the vessels final position and safety. The entire apparatus belongs to you and the laying of the gear is done by any contractor of your choosing.
Do the contractors have to be licensed? No they don’t. In fact if you had a suitable vessel you could lay a mooring block and attachments yourself in a position given to you when you have your site visit with the Boating Service Officer in your area.
However, the practice of laying a mooring yourself is foolhardy as the contractors working the waterways of the Sydney Region are very experienced and most have an in-depth knowledge of the type of gear needed for a particular vessel in a particular site/area.
This is what NSW Maritime say on their website regarding private moorings: Arrange with a mooring contractor to purchase and positioning (sic ) of a suitable mooring apparatus at the site allocated by the Boating Service Officer. It is however the responsibility of a mooring contractor to ensure that the mooring and its location are suitable for the vessel in question.
Over the years I would have inspected and managed thousands of moorings and it would be very unusual for a vessel like the 25ft Sunbird mentioned in Mr Mason’s letter to actually move a true 500kg block along the seabed. But it can happen and the responsibility is all the owners.
I have heard recently that one of the Rozelle-based BSOs travels around with dive gear on his patrol boat and uses it to dive under customer’s boats to retrieve items lost overboard. I am told by a commercial dive business in Sydney the service this BSO offers is called Find It Diving.
This seems like an excellent service from this particular BSO and would be good to use if you are concerned about the quality of the seabed where your block is laid. I understand this service is also supported by a group of non-Maritime divers as well, all working together so you may be able to actually hire them for similar dive operations.
The only real way to know where your mooring block is and how it has settled is to get in the water, dive down and take a look.
Well done Maritime.
Graham Forsaith,
Sydneysail.
Mooring security
Peter Mason misses two important points about moorings and their security (Afloat Jan’10).
Mooring blocks are flat rather than cubic because the shape contributes to the holding power. Any contractor lifting old blocks can tell you all about that.
Secondly, boats usually break free of the block rather than drag the block. Breaking free (and I guess that’s how the Sunbird struck his boat) is down to failure of the gear which is attached to the block, that is the swivels, shackles, chain or rope.
I am not an engineer, but the New Zealand standards appear gross overkill for recreational vessels in sheltered mooring areas, and I wonder how many contractors would be able to handle 4-tonne blocks for every vessel over 10.5 metres. I have a 9.4 metre vessel on a one tonne block and have the mooring serviced annually. My boat is always where I leave it.
George Cotis,
Port Hacking.
The Spirit of Australia’s Waterways
I have just read your December issue and was struck by the theme of cooperation that ran through the letters.
Firstly there were all the ones from around Lake Macquarie about how various groups of people had formed separate teams to save the Catalina flying base and to build a museum for the restored Catalina (no doubt restored by yet another group of volunteers!).
Then there were the letters about the editorial teams of Afloat itself, and finally the sad story of Bosun, but with the wonderful underlying message about all the people who pitched in to help until 2am.
What a lot of great people there are!
Warwick Savage,
Winmalee.
Rathmines WWII Catalina
Neil Newton’s suggestion that the ex WWII RAAF Flying Boat Base (Afloat Oct’09) be turned into a marina was first mooted in the 1970s. Hundreds of residents demonstrated against it and the proposed development was defeated.
Because of the Annual Catalina Festival & Catalina Ball and the Catalina that is being currently restored at Bankstown, public awareness is so much greater of the part played by Rathmines in the defence of Australia during WWII, and I am glad to say that as the whole park is now heritage listed there is no chance of any marine development taking place.
The Rathmines Catalina Festival and The Catalina Ball are run by Rathmines Memorial Bowling Club (the old Officers Mess) and in the last three years we have raised $37,000 towards the Catalina project. When the Catalina is restored, funds from future Festivals and Balls will go towards the maintenance of the Catalina and a hanger/museum.
The people who raised the money to purchase the Catalina are members of The Catalina Flying Memorial and their progress can be viewed on www.catalinaflying.org.au Those involved in the project include Lake Macquarie City Council and Rathmines Catalina Memorial Park Trust.
Once we achieve the dream of a hanger/museum, it will be staffed by volunteers from the Toronto & District Historical Society.
Mike Usher, President,
Rathmines Memorial Bowling Club.
Holidays in Harrington
As a child I spent many a happy May school holidays with my cousins in Harrington, at the mouth of the Manning River on the NSW north coast.
Some highlights of these holidays were playing on Pilot Hill and the Cracker Night bonfire which was either on the Oxley Reserve or on the sandhills of the surf beach.
It was not until 45 years later that I discovered a personal connection to Pilot Hill viz; my great-grandaunt Elizabeth Laird Coulter (wife of the Pilot, Captain John Muir) was the first Postmistress for Harrington.
However, to experience these delights an interminable overnight train trip to Taree had to be endured, with aunts and cousins jammed into one compartment and the uncles in the next compartment.
The early morning arrival at Taree was followed by a bus trip down the river to Harrington where finally my cousins and I were free to roam unhindered.
On reading Bruce Stannard’s article ‘The Admiral Reborn’ (Afloat Jan’10) I was surprised to learn that there was also a Taree on the Tweed River. This revelation set me wondering as to whether there are other towns in NSW that share a name.
Maybe some Afloat readers could ease my wonderment by offering examples.
John Cowie,
Lilyfield.
Nigerian Spam
Steve Zervos’s letter ‘Potted Johnnie Walker surprise’ (Afloat Jan’10) reminds of my tenure as manager of an American supply vessel company servicing the Nigerian offshore oil patch.
Commuting to our customers was by helicopter routed along estuarine channels and piloted by one typical of the time: a half-crazed ex-Nam Cobra jockey flying a barely airworthy Alouette.
Routing was carried out at zero altitude and maximum nose down speed until he sighted the tell-tale inner tube. Nose hard up, brakes on, I climbed out onto the port skid with a rudimentary safety line and a boat hook.
Snatch the tube, haul in the pot, out with the lobster(s) and replace each one with a bottle of beer, brewed locally by that famous Dutch mob.
I’m pleased to report that this … er, low level of commercial activity was accepted by all participants. I can’t remember if the chopper costs were factored in.
Tim Bowra,
Rozelle.
Drydocks and Baragoola
Following his visit to Cockatoo Island, John Ardill had some difficulty in visualising how a large vessel like the former manly ferry Baragoola might look in a dry dock (Afloat Dec’09).
On a recent visit to Cockatoo my friends and I were delighted to view the 1922 built and former Baltic Trader Svanen in the Fitzroy Dock undergoing repairs to her timber hull. At the time Svanen shared the water-filled historic dock with Fitzroy’s moored caisson. Svanen also shares the same build year as Baragoola!
Berthed further along at nearby Sutherland Wharf was the former Sydney ferry and now charter boat Lady Wakehurst. The Cockatoo visitor guide brochure defines these dockyard areas, along with the great Turbine Shop and Heavy Machine shops, as the Industrial Precinct and it is here that Cockatoo volunteers are restoring the fast motor launch of the former aircraft carrier HMAS Sydney. Volunteers are also busy restoring the 1891 Morts Dock-built steam crane that sits near the mouth of the Fitzroy Dock and other historic machine shop machinery.
The idea that Cockatoo Island can be many things – a wondrous juxtaposition of a working shipyard and modern exhibitions such as renowned South African artist William Kentridge’s I am not me, the horse is not mine and other events is visionary and attracts much public interest.
It is a credit to the custodian (Sydney Harbour Federation Trust) that these shipyard facilities continue to be used for ship repair and ongoing maritime purposes in this part of the Island, a matter that the Friends of Cockatoo Island, particularly Afloat’s Jack & Mary Clark, fought so hard to ensure and that the Island remained in public ownership.
A brass plate near the visitor information building acknowledges the important work of this community group as “advocates for the retention of the Island in public hands and use of its docks and slipways for maritime activities”.
John Ardill also refers to ship building at Goat Island another important community asset with a long and continuing maritime tradition. Goat Island is part of Sydney Harbour National Park and is in the custodianship of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service.
It is gratifying to know that future public access will ensure that traditional maritime activities not only prevail, but will also provide interest for visitors.
These important islands will provide excellent and safe vantage points for visitors to discover and view ship repair in action along with indigenous and early European traditions and for the enjoyment of contemporary exhibitions, events, picnics, tents and sleepovers and seemingly as habitats for the now ubiquitous Larus novaehollandiae.
Will Cockatoo and Goat Islands be the last bastions of Sydney’s working harbour?
Rick Pool,
Jannali.
The swinging Spit bridges
Congratulations to Graeme Andrews for yet another interesting historical article ‘Crossing The Spit’ (Afloat Jan’10). His classification of the bridges as ‘open swing’, however, needs clarifying. Both are ‘bascule’ bridges, often called draw bridges because of their historical association with access to castles over surrounding moats.
Typical existing bascule bridges in NSW are at Coraki, Maclean, Carrathool and Narooma plus the unique double-deck bascule bridge at Grafton.
Swing bridges spin horizontally on a central pivot pier, the 1902 Pyrmont and 1903 Glebe Island bridges are good examples.
Don Fraser,
Bridges Historian,
Vaucluse.
[The RTA have reduced Spit Bridge weekday opening times beginning February 8. For details see advertisement on page 13.]
Some dictionary definitions should be quarantined
Enjoyed Alan Lucas’s story (as usual), this one ‘Back and Forth’ on springs (Afloat Jan’10).
I admire anyone who has the courage to publicly admit his mistakes. I would, however, warn him against putting too much store with anything by a dictionary publisher and council him to pick a dictionary … any dictionary, and look up ‘yellow flag’.
The explanations prove there’s a little plagiarism in every publisher, particularly when they all make the same error on the same entry.
Having had 11 years of editing Pacific Islands Monthly’s world famous cruising yacht section, I called several dictionary publishers several times to have them correct this entry, alas to no avail, they seem bent on perpetuating the pre-1920s meaning.
I often wonder who copied who.
John Collins,
Gold Coast, Qld.
Radio for the Print Handicapped
A Happy 20th Birthday and a very big thank you for continued access to Afloat magazine … readings from which form part of a weekly half hour programme on the Australia-wide Radio for the Print Handicapped.
The volunteer network is a radio reading service for the 3.5 million Australians who cannot read, see, handle, hold or understand printed material. The reading of daily newspapers, magazines and books are part of the station’s transmission.
The programme in which I read from Afloat is broadcast in Brisbane, Sydney, Newcastle, Canberra, Wagga, Hobart, Launceston and New Zealand. 2RPH Sydney has an audience in excess of 111,000.
Here’s to another 20 years Afloat.
Bob Hargreaves,
Kiama Downs.
[Bob Hargreaves continues a tradition first started by Afloat Editor Robin Copeland in 1989. While a newsreader with 2RPH at their studios in North Sydney, Robin also produced his own half hour programme ‘Anchors Away’ based around content from Afloat.]
Weather forecasts at sea
Boating weather forecasts as currently issued by the various coastal rescue services (AVCG, RVCP and MR) present the wind speed as a range expressed in knots, eg 13-25 knots, embedded in other information about sea condition etc.
While this form of presentation is suitable for someone dedicated to following the forecast and writing down the information pertinent to their area, it is difficult to remember if away from the radio, such as when at the helm.
Would it not be possible to introduce the use of the Beaufort Scale so that 13-25 knots might be presented as Force 4-5 gusting Force 6. A simple and easily remembered phrase that conjures up both the impact of the forecast wind and generally the accompanying sea conditions.
In addition it is much less likely to be misheard or misinterpreted than the wind speed in knots when reception is scratchy or when awareness of the meaning of the figures given is limited.
A chart of the Beaufort Scale stuck to a bulkhead will provide a comprehensive commentary on the Beaufort number and is a permanent reminder of the relationship between wind and water, a worthwhile benefit under any conditions.
Frank Braybrooks,
Cattai.
R.S.V.P.
Headhunter / Solitude
I am the owner of a 1999 Catalina 380, Solitude. Unusually for a Catalina, she has a navy hull and white topsides – a stunning looking boat.
She was formally called Headhunter, and sailed on either Pittwater or Sydney Harbour. I would appreciate making contact with the previous owner.
Red Funnel Company
I was pleased to read Graeme Andrews’ review of Harvesting the Sea – the story of Puglisi Family (Afloat Dec’09). I look forward to reading it.
I have known about some of the Cam family and a couple of the Puglisi family as mentioned. The Red Funnel Fisheries Group interests me in that I have a photo of a bell that was said to come from the wreck of the Goolgwai.
Attempts to find someone from the Red Funnel Company who may know about that vessel has proved impossible.
The photo I have was sent to me by an anonymous person. It does not have Goolgwai on it but ‘T.R.19’.
I wanted to speak to anyone in that company who could explain the reason for these markings!
 Playtime
Help needed to locate Playtime a 42ft 30-square metre designed by Stanley McDonald and sister ship to Pastime II.
Built in Williamstown Melbourne by shipwright Norman Norblum, for Melbourne yachtsman Jim Lane.
Hull quarter-cut Oregon fir with laid NZ beech deck.
Playtime was launched in 1949 and was sold to South Australia circa 1951. Original drawings can be viewed on the Australian square metre association website www.asqma.com
The most outstanding feature is they are double-ended … although Playtime could have had her stern chopped, creating a shorter hull (approx 39ft) with a small transom.
 McGoogan’s models
In Bruce Stannard’s article concerning George McGoogan’s great sailing and building life (Afloat Nov’09) mention is made of his sailing models – particularly the beamy carvel hulls, beautifully planked in Australian red cedar and fastened with tiny copper nails.
I have a similar model. It is 38ins and sounds somewhat similar to his models.
I would love to trace its history. I have been in touch with the Maritime Museum and they referred me to a Jack in the Botany Bay/Sans Souci area. He thought the model was at least 60-70 years old.
The model was found at a North Shore Sea Scout Hall about 50 years ago.
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