Tams in Tasmania – Spinning like a Tasmanian devil! (Sailing Melbourne to Hobart)



Tall Ships leaving Williamstown (near Melbourne)



We had an amazing leaving night in Melbourne (Williamstown) with local dancing, fireworks and a band in the nearby pub. In response, the 9 tall ships left in procession and gave a parade of sail across the bay until we disbursed into the Southern Ocean heading for Hobart.

We have a film crew on board for this voyage! They are making a documentary about the JST and “life on board” especially following some of the service men who became disabled in the line of duty. It is great that they are (hopefully) going to raise awareness about this wonderful charity (although it’s a shame that it means I’m going to be filmed in a dirty coverall!

After the first day with sunny skies and sheltered seas we rounded the south-eastern point and where hit by 35-50 knots gusts of wind and the characteristic long swells of the southern ocean. About 1/3 of the voyage crew were sick but most of them still managed to be classed as “walking wounded” as they still got up for meals (where they tentatively sucked at pieces of toast) and stayed on deck for their watches. I had a perfect line-up for a bumpy day: Head down in the bar hatch most of the morning hovering up beer that was sloshing in the bilge followed by an afternoon working on the sewage plant in the forward pump room. Who needs windows or fresh air??

Midday the next day we had headed far enough south so that Tasmania acted like a wind shield for us. This meant that Nelly sailed at a more comfortable angle with less pitching up and down. She still kept a gentle roll from the Southern Ocean swells, but the reduction allows the voyage crew to get over their sea sickness and get on with the sailing.

West coast of Tasmania

As we came in closer to the land in the afternoon we caught our first glimpse of the West Coast of Tasmania. We know we are in a truly wild part of the world as some of the areas are uncharted and the coastline is absolutely stunning! We anchored in a ba called “Port Davie” although there is no port….in fact there is nothing at all apart from baby “pointers” (Great white sharks, Carcaridan Caurcarius). Unfortunately we didn’t see any sharks, but we did have a wonderful display of dolphins surrounding the ship as we sailed into the bay.

Dolphins on the Starboard side

Once we were at anchor we all came on deck to enjoy some of the Chief Engineers punch and a wonderful curry. A little bit of music and good company made it really magical especially when we were surrounded by a coastline that looked truly Jurassic.

Of course, the serenity didn’t last long for the engineering department and we were soon alerted of a flood in the male showers. This turned out to be a back wash of grey water caused by a blockage in the pipe work at a right angle bend where the grey water from the showers and the grey water from the galley run into the forward grey water tank……The voyage crew did wonder why there were carrots in the showers! Unblocking it involved the Chief and I getting covered in grey water for just over an hour, but the problem was solved and showers were quickly had!

In the morning all the assisted climbers we able to climb up the masts and enjoy the view of the bay. It was great seeing everyone get up including an incredibly fast climb by one of our voyage crew with Cerebral Palsy who was able to go up both in his wheel chair and on his own feet with the assistance of one of our deck crew…..Awesome!

Plumbing is one of many jobs that I seem to spend a lot of time doing on board. That afternoon we had a planned job of re-plumbing the aft grey water tank. I really enjoy these kinds of jobs as it involves a bit of design work, a bit of art and a bit of maths. It also involves getting a little high from the glue too! I had just finished cutting the last piece of pipe for the day and started to bezel it when I managed to slip with the file I was using and whacked my finger between the file and the desk clamp…..*Ouch*. I now have a black line across the forth finger on my left hand which looks particularly pretty!

Dolphins on the starboard side.....again

As we left the anchorage we had another dolphin display and I even managed to get up the main mast to help unfold the topsail! Naturally it was raining and the gasket on my side got caught so we were up there for a while freeing the rope, but it was great to be up there getting involved with the voyage crew. It is too easy in my job to not spend time with the crew so I always try my best to talk to as many as possible as they always have great stories to tell about how they heard about the tall ship.

As I came down and was about to chill out for 15 minutes before dinner I was phoned from the bridge and informed that one of our lifts was broken….again. I had a good look after dinner, but we have already had problems with this lift as it needs a new cable which is a big job that needs to be done by the manufacturer. Up until now we had got it to work by short circuiting past the stop buttons, but this was only ever a short term fix.

Once we left anchor we were joined by the Lady Nelson who then sailed with us down the bay into Hobart harbour. It was like two lovers reunited! The Lady Nelson was a beautiful little ship and had all her sails up to try and keep up with Nelly. As the day wore on we were surrounded by all sorts of vessels including planes, helicopters, jet skis, yachts, dinghies, canoes and a steam boat. I couldn’t help thinking what an incredible variety of transportation methods man has designed!

 

Lady Nelson under full sail trying to keep up with “her man” (Nelly) as we sailed towards Hobart

Hobart is a beautiful town. We were incredibly busy when we first came in, but I was able to head off for a run after work to stretch my legs and try to keep my fitness up for the Marathon des Sables (…hmmm…) As I ran North up the bay and past under the Tasman bridge there was a double rainbow in the bay and the sun shone on the other side of the mountain. It was a steady uphill run into the hills which was really nice, until after just over 5 miles I realised that I needed to head back for dinner. The temperature dropped like a flick of a switch and suddenly I was running along the cycle track in the dark. I got a little lost (proving, once again, why I’m not in the navigation department) and ended up at the top of a hill with a Cenotaph and Memorial sculpture that were lit up. At the top of the hill I was able to look out over the harbour and the entrance to the bay to see the whole of Hobart lit up. It was stunning!

Hobart port authorities do not allow any black water (water from the toilets) to be flushed into the harbour, even if it is fully treated. This means that even our treated black water (that is deemed good enough by the USA coast guards) has to be stored on board and pumped into an onshore tanker every 12 hours. This involves me and the Chief getting up to sort the pumps and the pipes ready for 0700hrs in the morning and 1900hrs at night. So, whilst I’m in Hobart I am starting and ended each day with sewage….Living the dream!

There was so much work to do in Hobart. It was absolutely exhausting! On top of the usual daily maintenance there was still a back log of jobs from dry dock and all the extra bits and bobs that insisted on breaking just to keep us extra busy. That on top of the 0700-1930hrs days and the “Open Ship” (where we allow members of the public to view the ship and take them round) mean that most of the crew now look like zombies….Happy zombies, but zombies none the less.

Saying that, I was allowed one afternoon off and I managed to haul myself round the maritime museum where I read about Joseph Conrad and all the tall ships that first graced the Bass Strait into Tasmania (often full of convicts). It was amazing to see just how many ship wrecks are in these waters as well as the history of shipping in Tasmania. It’s great to feel like we are keeping history alive by sailing the Lord Nelson back into Hobart.