The Steamtug Blog

This week was the exciting trip to tow Adaqua back to Geelong. Captain Dave is a retired workmate who retired a couple of years ago, and we have kept in touch. He has a big cruiser boat on a trailer and I managed to convince him to partake in a great adventure of getting Adaqua home.  (continue reading…)

His truck has been under construction for a few years now, but ’tis getting to the pointy end of the project, and I helped him get the boiler certified so now it’s up and running. As a pay back, Tom helped me get the engine out of poor Adaqua, still stranded in Williamstown which is 5 hours by sea from her home port! Hopefully coming home soon, minus the blown up engine… read on!!! (continue reading…)

(Cmon, sing the “Gilligan’s Island” theme song with me…) Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from the Gee-long port, upon a tiny ship. The engine started running rough, the big end bearing got hot, if not for the well stocked beer fridge, the skipper would’ve been shot! (continue reading…)

The World’s greatest footy match, and I was there to see it! My mate Charles is a member of the prestigious Melbourne Cricket club, where the grudge match of the year was to be played on Friday night, and he had tickets for the game! So how could I say no to see the old foes, Geelong and Hawthorn face off again. Hawthorn had not beaten Geelong in the last 8 times they have played, but with Geelong down a little on form, and Hawthorn starring enough to be called the favourites to win the grand final later in the year, it was shaping up to be the payback game for Geelong. (continue reading…)

I was probably about 8 when I got my first train set, and my mind was made up… I was going to grow up and be a train driver! I was ready to leave school at just 16 years old, and passing all the entrance exams was the easy part, but going into the medical was much harder. At the Victorian Railways head office in the big haunted house in Spencer street, they showed me some tiny colored lights in a mirror that were located a long, long way behind me without a problem. But when they brought out this funny book with pictures of pizzas and asked me what number it was, I couldn’t see past the anchovies and  was deemed to be color blind. When they told me I would never be a train driver, I was bitterly disappointed but after continuing on at school, I have managed to carve out a career much better than just driving trains. (continue reading…)

Word had got around boat yard there was going to be a BBQ Friday night. I was there organising to get John’s little yacht up the slipway (yes…it’s the one that sunk). When I was there a few weeks ago, I was convinced to join the yacht club as they seemed to be a fun bunch of blokes. But this Friday night turned out to be the best fun I have had for ages! (continue reading…)

Hanging around on the bottom of swimming pools is becoming a normal thing for me in my role as president of the Geelong Underwater Hockey club. You never know who you might meet down there in the murky depths while holding your breath! (continue reading…)

Having 4 days off in a row is too big an opportunity not to do something interesting with, so I headed north trying to escape the winter chills to the place that advertises more sunny days than the Goldcoast; Mildura Victoria. But it was even colder in the mornings, and not much warmer than Geelong through out the day. With not a breathe of wind, if you could find a sunny spot to stand with the sun on your back it was lovely. Like a lizzard on a rock, eh? I visited 2 steam pumping stations, a paddles steamer, and tried some nice local beers. Read on for more! (continue reading…)

Mitch took me in his plane to the historic port of Echuca at the weekend. It’s about 4 hours driver from home, but only 1 hour by plane! We got back just in time to meet my old mate that I worked with in Nigeria, and again in Russia, who was visiting from England! (continue reading…)