Baragoola Week Ending 9th October ‘11

In attendance: Nick, Gary, Glen, Peter, Ernie, Bruce, Ross, Geoff E, Geoff L and Lance Visitors: Three Don’t forget that all donations over $2 are now tax deductible – why not do what some of our donors

have and set up an automatic payment once a week, fortnight or month ? Last week we had outgoings

of $0 and we made $300.

Later this year we are also booked for a fundraising BBQ at Bunnings Belrose, we have a couple of our

members who have volunteered to assist with this event but still need a further four – if you can assist

please let us know.

This week’s anniversaries:

Brightside (ex Emu II) was sold to breakers on the 12th of October 1908, the following day she was towed

away to be scrapped. One of the mainstays of the Manly trade for many years, you can read her full

story at http://www.ferriesofsydney.com/brightside.html

Brightside (with Manly behind her)

Our new site is still gaining extras, coming up this week will be an online shop and the forums are

currently in the process of being moved over (which is why they are unavailable at the moment).

All members received a copy this week of the condition report that was completed by the same

surveyors as last year, this report was also sent the Baragoola Inter Council Committee, several MP’s,

NSW Maritime, members of the press and to Heritage Branch. As expected, there were no surprises in it

and we quickly formulated a working plan to deal with the few spots that need attention. This is now the

third report in the last 18 months that has given Goola a largely clean bill of health, it is well worth

comparing with the highly inaccurate and emotive report written by BoatCheck and commissioned by

Heritage Branch that was used to remove Goola’s heritage listing. That report can be found on the

website of Heritage Branch, just search for “Baragoola”. Yes people, Baragoola still hasn’t managed to

implode or sink some two years down the line nor is she in any danger of doing so. And neither has 65%

of her fabric needed to be replaced either (nor will it)!

Indeed work commenced on rectifying the highlighted areas this weekend with the guys dealing with a

difficult to get to spot in the forward hold. The forward hold hasn’t yet had a great deal of attention paid

to it yet beyond some minor repairs, a patch applied between it and the forward void (as noted last

inspection), a new strum box and permanent lighting.

Nick and Gary applying a compression box – inside Goola were Geoff and Peter

Our aft flagpole came back yesterday after Ernie had completed his repairs – it’s now very weatherproof

having been covered in resin and will be painted bright white next weekend and re-erected. Ernie spent

part of Sunday fastening the collar back on – this is now permanently bonded and water will not be able

to get under it and rot the pole.

Repaired aft flagpole (bottom) and fittings, forward (unrestored) one at top

Ernie has designed and fabricated a very simple hinge system that will allow these to be easily brought

down in the future should any maintenance work be required. As soon as this one goes up our Port

Jackson flag will be immediately hoisted!

Collar permanently bonded in place

Ernie has been quite busy this week with much of the control boards in the generator flat now scrubbed

up and gleaming and with touch up paint applied in areas that were worn.

Control equipment

Geoff (our heritage advisor) had us apply some Opaline Blue in this area on the weekend as well – when

we move in there to paint it out it will all look quite spectacular. It’ll also be great to eliminate the

horrible “Shirley Blue” that was applied in the 1970’s – it looked vile on buses and completely wrong on

Manly ferries!

Quite a bit of painting was done throughout the boat this weekend. The main Cabin is now largely done

with only a small amount of painting needed to be completed. This work continued on Sunday with Glen

reverting the door into the Ladies Salon back to cream – we’d originally done this in Red Oxide but have

changed this once we determined it was incorrect.

It may only seem like a small thing, but colour detail is just one of the areas where we are taking care to

ensure that the boat is being accurately restored to her 1961 look. We have one chance to do this right

and to establish our credentials as a professional restoration team.

As they say, “the devil’s in the details”.

Port entry to the Ladies Salon

This historical accuracy has been extended to other parts of the Main cabin as well – an example is the

lighting and cabling. The 1960’s plastic lighting has long been removed but we have selected a light

fitting that is nearly an exact copy and more importantly being made out of glass and metal will last. To

go with these we have also reinstalled the deckhead cable trays and new wiring – meeting modern

standards – is being installed. The aim it to be compliant with safety requirements yet still mimic the

1961 look.

Bruce installing new cable trays

Gary with assistance from Bruce and Ross continued the job of installing these – they also took the

opportunity to remove the ratty fire hose box from the funnel uptake. We have ordered 1,000 saddles

to hold the wiring in place – this won’t even cover the entire Main Cabin! ... and there’s still all of

upstairs, the Ladies Salon, Smoking Saloon and both wheelhouses to be done as well......

On that note, I’m pleased to report that one of our members has located a chippie who is willing to do

the wheelhouse repairs so expect to see them emerging from under their plastic cocoons in the coming

weeks.

Work was of course done down in the engine room as well – this time No. 4 English Electric began to get

some attention. Like the other three, this one is also in poor cosmetic condition. Well, not all of the

other three – as most of you know No.1 has been put back into working order and is scrubbing up rather

smartly.

Work begins on English Electric No. 1

This particular engine has some parts missing, the originals have been located and we are currently

negotiating their return.

The other issue with this particular engine is that we know that it was immersed prior to David Ashton

purchasing the boat in 1988 so it was with some trepidation that the engine was opened. There is some

damage, but in all things turned out to be better than was expected with the accessible parts looking

pretty good. This one will, however, need a lot more attention than No. 4 to return it to working

condition!

Connector rod inside No. 1 English Electric

Ernie has also turned his attention to getting the generators that drive the propulsion motors operating

– he’s removed a whole heap of v belts for these to work on off site.

Belts from the generators

Sunday saw some work happening in regards to cleaning of the aft starboard side. A quick wash down

with fresh water to remove salt spray and dust saw a somewhat cleaner end appearing. Around three

quarters of the gutters were cleaned out as well, we managed to remove about 15 kilos of crap from the

gutters – really bad as this stays wet causes rust in the foot of the bulwarks.

Note the clean gutters – also note the rust issues near the scupper

I’d ask all volunteers when they are attending to give half an hour or so to maintenance like this – in the

long run it will save us a lot of money on very expensive repairs.

A general tidy up of all the decks was also done, they tend to be dumping grounds and also get used as

de facto work areas and this can lead to problems with the decks holding moisture – I found quite an

interesting fungal growth on the port side that has probably not been classified by botanists yet. Not

something we need!

Nick decided to have a “lazy day” (supposedly) and set to with the needle gun on the forward starboard

loading gate area. For some reason this little section has been badly affected by rust and some pretty

major work needs to be done. He spent several hours at it and a lot of rust was removed back down to

good clean metal.

It will need to be rust treated (and this will happen during the week) but at least the rust will now not

progress any further. Again, much of this is due to wet material being kept in contact with the metal and

simple housekeeping from all on board will prevent this from returning.

Nick at work

Three windows mid ships starboard received their first coat of red Oxide today and the second coat was

applied to the lower part of the deckhouse – looks great!

Painting on the lower deck outside the Main Cabin

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 baragoola@gmail.com as a friend.

That’s it for this week –you can keep up with all the latest on our forums and you can see our old

newsletters at http://www.baragoola.com.au

Next scheduled work day is on Saturday the 15th of October. Call 0405 945 465 or email

volunteer@savethebaragoola.com – there will be people on board during the week too – call ahead to

check first.

Hope to see you all here then!

Saturday’s visitor

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 help@savethebaragoola.com 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.

White T-shirt, printed with Baragoola’s build year and our web address, available in white cotton only in

sizes S, M, L, XL & XXL. Price is $22 including delivery.

SS Baragoola – Baragoola as built in 1922, white coffee mug.

Price $30.80 including delivery – available now.

SS Binngarra (class vessel), white coffee mugs.

Price $30.80 including delivery – available now.

MV Baragoola – Baragoola in the early 1970’s, white coffee mug.

Price $30.80 including delivery.

MV North Head

Price $30.80 including delivery – available now – limited edition only seven available.

SS Burra Bra

Price $30.80 including delivery – available now.

SS Curl Curl

Price $30.80 including delivery – available now.