The Steamtug Blog

Just arrived home after a week living like the homeless (Hobos of the bay!)on Adaqua visiting places like Portarlington, St Leonards, Rye, South Channel fort and finishing off with a few days in Melbourne’s docklands marina to unwind with luxuries like shore power, hot showers, a washing machine, and an easy place to wash the old boat down before heading home to Geelong.

If you remember from last year (see post “Happy Birthday Alex” we did the same trip last year as a birthday present for my mate’s son Alex where he brought a few mates and we cruised the Southern area of our bay.

South Channel Fort

I sent out a text message and got a couple of takers to come with us while we cruised 1.5 hours from St Leonards across to the South Channel Fort. It was built in the 1880’s to guard our port against the rumoured Russian invasion which never happened, but lots of time and money was spent building forts at Queenscliff, The Pope’s eye, and this magnificent fort with it’s man made island over looking the south channel enterance to Port Phillip Bay.

With the current pushing the boat in all directions, we managed to catch the pier and tie up amoungst the other boats visiting the fort. Last time I was there I had the entire place to myself, but today there were many people having a look. It’s only accessable by boat, so I was surprised how many people had made it across there.

Rye

After the fort, we steamed down the narrow natural channel to the port town of Rye where we went ashore for lunch. We planned to go for a dive on a nearby wreck, but Charlie, who lives in Melbourne, could not make it all the way around to St Leonards to come with us, but instead came across to Rye in his vintage MG to meet us there. So when he arrived, we settled in with a few beers aboards and watched the footy on the tele and didn’t get the dive in. After he left, we headed off into the setting sun for the 2.5 hours trip back to St Leonards to let our guests go home. The sea was completely flat and perfect weather for an afternoon cruise, so nice in fact, that even the dolphins came out to play as we rounded the Pope’s eye passing Queenscliff.

Melbourne

Next morning, we headed off early while the wind was light for Melbourne 4 hours across the middle of the bay to the other side. Luckily we cooked and ate our breakfast early in the trip, because it cut up a bit rough (not too bad) while we were out in the middle. Poor Alex was very quiet and admitted later he felt a little queesy, but as we approached the breakwater to enter the Yarra river in Melbourne, he perked up (not puked up!!) and was fine. I always say, no matter how rough the trip across the bay is, the 1 hour cruise up the river in dead calm conditions always makes you forget it was ever rough and you only remember how nice it was in the river!

After mooring at New Quay marina, just opposite the docklands footy stadium (it’s the best place in Melbourne!!!) we hit the hot showers ashore. Even though the boat has a shower, some how having the room to spread your stuff out and have the shower not rocking about while your trying to wash you “bits” always seems nicer. But I must admit, that when I closed my eyes to wash my hair, I could feel the sea pitching the shower around just as roughly as the boat’s shower did!

We filled in the 3 days we had in Melbourne very easily. My mate Leigh has an old Sydney ferry converted to a party cruise boat, and while visiting him, we arranged to do a cruise on our last night in port. Leigh and I were partners in the old steamtug I used to own (see “steamtugs” section at the top right of this page) and he had onboard the whistle for the tug, which he had saved from the scrap yard for me. So we motored Adaqua around the next day, fended off the big ferry, and loaded the “Lyttleton II” steam whistle aboard for it’s last sea voyage to Geelong. If you would like to hear it, I plan to take it to Lake Goldsmith steam rally next weekend and give it a blow!

While looking for something to do in Melbourne, I got an email from a chap I met at a brew demonstration day who brews grain beer in his shed like me, but also works for the biggest brewery in Australia, Carlton and United Breweries. He told me about there brewery tours, so Mitchell and I went down and did the brewery tour. It was obvious that the girl doing the tour had no idea how to make beer, and later admitted she had only been working there 2 weeks. I asked her some tricky questions which she could not answer, and I eventually had to admit that I made my own beer and was there to pick up some ideas.

Petri is coming!

I needed to get back to Geelong today because my Swedish mate Petri is coming to visit, and it was evident that the calm weather on the seas was going to turn a bit rough today. So, after doing the cruise on Leigh’s ferry with a group of university students having a party on board, when we got back to port, I said my goodbyes to everyone and walked back to the marina where Adaqua was waiting, and even though it was midnight, shoved off for the 5 hour journey back to Geelong. If I had waited for morning, the wind would already be up and make a very unpleasant voyage home. So with a big silvery moon looking over my shoulder, I headed out, put on the auto pilot and sat on the bunk in the pilot house wrapped in my sleeping bag and wathched the world slip past, arriving at 5am at our home berth in Geelong before collapsing dead tired in my little bunk where I slept until lunchtime. Such a nice trip with nobody to enjoy it with me! At least nobody complained that the music was too loud!