Baragoola Week Ending 14th August 2011 In attendance: Glen, Peter H, Lance, Nick, Gary, Peter C, Geoff E & Glenn Visitors: Three This week our income was $273 and outgoings were $6 (phone bill). Don’t forget that all donations over $2 are now tax deductible. This week we also gathered two new members. We are arranging another info display at Manly Corso – tentatively booked for the 17th of September – we’ll confirm this as soon as we have the date nailed down (early this week hopefully). If this date is confirmed we’ll use it to publicise an Open Day on the boat for the Saturday after. New member and volunteer Glenn has offered to assist with his boat to ferry people over so it’ll be a little more comfortable for visitors than one of our tenders! There will be people attending every day this week (except Monday) – call ahead (0405 945 465) if you want to come down and give a hand or have a look around, otherwise our next scheduled working day is next Saturday; pick up from the usual points at Waverton or Greenwich. Peter C arrived nice and early on Saturday with two gifts for us – new volunteer Glenn and a new bosun’s chair. This is a nice secure platform that will allow anyone working on the exterior to be somewhat more comfortable and safer than out in the boats. Geoff made use of it this weekend to do a small repair job up under the sponson on a small piece of damage to the hull. A quick cleanup and a small amount of fibreglass did the trick nicely. The hull on both sides (inside and outside) has been receiving a large amount of attention lately and I’m pleased to report that we are very happy with the condition of it. Of course it looks bloody shabby but this is largely cosmetic and due to several years of neglect. Indeed Geoff was cleaning away some crud from the hull in the engine room and exposed some of the original opaline blue paint still in place. This is a rare find as it has been many, many years since that colour scheme was in place and also reinforces our plan to repaint the interior in that colour. The new bosun’s chair ... and over it goes for its first live test As usual, a large amount of work was done on the roof with Peter H down earlier in the week and assisted by Glen. Each week there are less and less rain water leaks as a result and around half of the boat is now totally dry whenever it rains. This is a huge improvement from even a few months ago. Some further work was done on Saturday and a small amount of sealing was accomplished on Sunday. Peter at work on the roof The bridge deck received quite a bit of attention this weekend, especially from Nick and me on Sunday (a nice quiet day with no-one else around). The day before Ernie had finished a section of the funnel shroud that needed some attention to stop leaks from the rain and with a large portion of this item now completed it was time to put some paint on it. A little bit of side history – the shroud is an integrated part of the funnel and is all one piece, there are still in place lugs for the connection of this to the boat (funnel uptake). Baragooola’s funnel is not round like her earlier steam funnel was, bur is a long oval shape – the ladders are later additions (from the 70’s) and these will be removed by us to take it back to the post 1961 look. Internally the funnel has a ladder and is capped up the top where the exhausts all exit; also internally there is an electric sucker fan (which works). Overall the funnel itself is in excellent condition with only some small repairs having needed to be done. A small amount of repairs still needs to be completed on the base on one side as well. Lots and lots of white paint The black and white funnel is a trademark of the Manly ferries – it first appeared (along with the green hull) with the introduction of Phantom back in 1859. Unfortunately Sydney Ferries has not continued the tradition and the last in-service black and white funnel disappeared in 1987 when North Head went out of service. Like the streamlined hulls so suited to the open seas between the heads, Sydney Ferries chose to discard 120 years of tradition in favour of a fleet that looks identical in colour scheme. Today only Baragoola and South Steyne remain in Sydney with the correct t look – North Head in Cairns also retains her black and white funnels. Fortunately they still maintain the tradition of running bow first to Manly (most of the time anyway!). Both wheelhouses received some attention this weekend – the aft wheelhouse received a little more Red Oxide on an area that had previously been covered in plastic and it also received white trim on the roofline. The aft wheelhouse has finally had the starboard side painted in Red Oxide and it too received white trim where needed. Closer up the effect looks great – it’s often these small things that set off the various parts of the boat and are the hallmarks of a traditional Manly ferry. Over the next few weeks both wheelhouses will receive the second and final coat of Red Oxide. Aft wheelhouse showing white trim Nick painting the forward wheelhouse The internal areas of the forward wheelhouse also received a bit of attention with the shower and toilet receiving their second coat of cream paint and the rear wall receiving the first coat. Peter currently uses this as a store room for his roof workings, we’ll be evicting him shortly to the aft wheelhouse so we can commence full restoration of this one. Interior of forward wheelhouse The work to be done here includes relining the walls, reconstructing another wall that has been torn out, electrical rewiring and plumbing installation. In service, the area that the photo was taken from was the captain’s quarters; the aft area was that of the engineer. Crew occupied the aft wheelhouse and it wasn’t kitted with a toilet or shower. The removal of the linings shows builders marks on the walls that indicate how the wheelhouses were constructed. These will be left – we will simply reline the walls and cover them over. There are also clear indications of the earlier layouts of the wheelhouses with covered in doors and filled in areas where portholes originally existed. The existing wheelhouses are the remains of the second generation ones that were rebuilt and extended later on. Baragooola’s original ones were replaced in 1930’s when crew accommodation was moved from below decks. This is the same time that the first cafe was installed on board – downstairs in the officers’ quarters which eventually became the battery compartment and engineer’s “office” post 1961. Nick and I also continued with the external paintwork on the upper deck with around 2/3rds of the port side completed and a start made on the starboard side. Downstairs further work was done in the engine room, no doubt Peter will relay what his crew were doing on our forums in the Engineering board at http://www.savethebaragoola.com/forum/index.php?board=22.0 later on. He has a better idea of what they do! New volunteer Glen was drafted to paint the Sanitary Pump (slightly misnamed, it does have multiple uses only one of which used to involve pumping water for the toilets). Sanitary pump being painted This was yet another piece of equipment that looked little more than a piece of rust just a few weeks ago and has now been cleaned back. That’s pretty much it for this week - once again a big thanks to everyone that turned up and once again a noticeable change in the boat resulted. Baragoola is in good hands and is being well looked after by her “groupies” (as Geoff calls us) – no doubt any 90 year old lady would love to have the attentions of this many fine men! Until next week.... Don’t forget – all donations above two dollars are now tax deductible – see our website for details on how to donate. Also, if you have Google Talk installed you can chat to us if anyone is online and nearby the computer – add [email protected] as a friend. That’s it for this week – don’t forget you can keep up with all the latest on our forums at http://www.savethebaragoola.com/forum/index.php and you can see our old newsletters at http://www.savethebaragoola.com/works.html Our next scheduled working day is next Saturday; pick up from the usual points at Waverton or Greenwich. Got a friend or two? Bring them along as well to pitch in. Next work day is next Saturday – details will be sent out prior as per usual or check our website. If you’re coming bring your lunch – we do provide tea and coffee facilities. Also ensure that you bring safe footwear and clothes you don’t mind getting a little grubby! Baragoola on the afternoon of Sunday the 14th Show your support! We’re pleased to announce some additions to our range of collectable items. All items can be ordered by sending an email to [email protected] with the following details: Your name Postal address Size (for clothing) and quantity Your contact phone number All items will be sent with an invoice payable within 30 days.