Paddleducks
Large Paddler Builds => General discussion (Large) => Topic started by: Roderick Smith on October 30, 2006, 06:54:38 PM
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The Tennessee Riverboat design is one of many from the prolific USA designer Phil Bolger (google for sites, including five ones on yahoo.groups). It is designed for the home builder, using simple shapes in marine ply to create an effect reminiscent of the 1930s. There are about 20 in Australia, where the style was popularised by Duck Flat Wooden Boats (www.duckflatwoodenboats.com). Most are built to order, and the owner can share part of the construction work with the professionals.
Mine is c1994. A feature is the polished ply interior, apparently the work of the first owner. The boat was built as Janoralee, named after his wife and two daughters. It has featured on various websites. After 5 years, it passed to a second owner. I inspected the vessel in Nov.04, paid a deposit, and took delivery in Feb.05. I have renamed it Jessie II (my father's third boat was Jessie, moored at Tooradin, Victoria).
Length: 9 m (fits on a 10 m trailer, and can be towed without a permit)
Width: 1.8 m
Draught: 0.1 m
Propulsion: 9.9 hp Yamaha four-stroke outboard motor, mounted in an inboard housing (the motor needs 0.25 m, and below 0.3 m is a worry for weed or sand ingestion into the cooling system).
The hull is flat bottomed, with a lowerable keelboard.
It is meant for rivers and inland lakes. I have survived a storm with 1 m waves on Lake Eildon; I have crossed Lake King in 0.8 m waves (but wasn't happy).
Duck Flat has an electric option, and would build a version with paddlewheels to order. The current design has been widened (flared sides), and renamed Mundoo.
The kitchen is compact: ok for two, care needed when catering for four. I tend to cater for breakfast and lunch, but tie up at a town with a hotel bistro for dinner.
The portaloo sits under the wheelhouse seat by day (or in the forecabin if there are ladies or toddlers aboard), and the footwell of the wheelhouse by night.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Hey Roderick, I'm going for my boat licence tomorrow, so I may be coming to borrow JesseII off you one day! Haven't been down the wharf yet, will be Wednesday when I go to wire up lights on PS Ranger.
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In Victoria, a restricted boat licence may be obtained at age 12 (my niece could skipper Jessie II). A full license may be obtained at 16. Most of the restrictions are concerned with waterskiing, not size of boat or waterway cruised. The whole licence is theory, not prac (mainly signs and rules, most of which are international). Sean and James are eligible for full licences too. Learners permits for cars are available at age 16 (must be supervised); a probationary licence at 18.
Jessie II has been entered for the full length of the June-July 2007 Morgan - Koondrook/Barham cruise. According to crew rosters, I may well be towing Michael's Bunyip or Sean's Grebe over some stretches (or PS Ranger or PS Billy Tea may tow Jessie II while I am in Melbourne doing a hasty RNV). I may even have visiting Paddleduckers aboard on some days.
Now for some more photos.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Glad for the towing offer for Grebe Roderick, will have to take you up on it!
Although I do plan on catching the fleet at Koondrook...but then again I'd love to meet at Wentworth...there are quite a few boats that would be well worth seeing there. But I won't add anything here that would start mass conversation like the 'Australien' in my play write up!
It is a nice looking boat. I'm going to look into that paddler version! It may interest me as a future boat!
Mind you I'd probly need to save up a bit! And there will be quite a bit of money going into Grebe at the moment!
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Wow!! The Riverrun sounds fantastic and very much fun, and I am aiming to get my full boat licence by the end of the year, hopefully before December. Hopefully I can pass!! Is the boat licence hard to obtain, or not much harder than my Leaners Permit would you think?! Hopefully it is not much harder!!!
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The learner driver book makes more sense...there seems to be a whole lot more in the boat book....and nothing about 'driving a boat is like playing a ball game' like in the car book (bah stupid car book!)
The NSW book is much better...easier to read...less 'mass amounts of info'
But as I still reside in Vic for the moment the vic one is more important. A group of my mates are all going to get it so we can go houseboating!
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The material and sample tests are available at
www.marinesafety.vic.gov.au
The rules are fairly international, and this would be worthwhile reading for any Paddleducker
The full relevant law and regulations are at:
www.dms.dpc.vic.gov.au
The test consists of 20 multiple-choice questions; the pass mark is either 17 or 18 out of 20.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
(and a licensed boat operator as well as a purser)
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Wed.10.10. I retrieved the boat from maintenance and modification, including the fitting of rollers on the trailer.
Launching, at Blanchetown, was much easier.
The pool of lock 1 (Randell lock) provided plenty of depth and easy cruising, but I had launched 3 h late and was pushing to reach Morgan in daylight (just achieved, at 18.45).
Along the way I saw PV Hebe moored (at 302 or 304 km). I didn't pause for a photo.
Thurs.11.10. I am heading for a 15.00 locking at lock 2 (Waikerie lock) this afternoon, then on to Waikerie for 17.00.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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I have had more than the usual number of conversations about my boat during this cruise. An article on it appeared in this month's Australian Amateur Boatbuilder magazine <www.boatbuilder.com.au>.
Thurs.11.10. I left Morgan at 11.30, went through lock 2 at 15.15, and arrived at Waikerie at about 17.00. The wind was strong, and the locking solo was tricky: still I didn't hit the rough concrete walls. The restaurant aboard Murray River Queen wasn't trading on Thursday night. I went to the pub.
Fri.12.10. 7.30 start, strong wind, 0.5 m waves, but the hull glided through them smoothly.
Overland Corner 11.30-13.00. I lunched at the historic stone hotel, built in 1859. The 1956 flood had come half way up a wall.
Back to Waikerie in 3.5 h again. I dined with the owner of Solway, a Mundoo II (an update of the Tennessee design).
Sat.13.10. 6.40 start for the double journey, 106 km to Blanchetown. I did it 11.5 h, locking at 8.15 (no wind, an easy drop), with a 2 h lunch break at Morgan (internet not open), and a 30 min break at a floating riverside hotel.
Boats seen:
PV Incredible is at the Blanchetown marina where I am moored.
PV Hebe, at 304 km
SWPV Gypsy Ellen: just below Cadell.
PV Murray River Queen, at Waikerie.
PV Akuna Amphibious, moored at Akuna Homestead.
Sun.14.10. I drove into Adelaide and back, for the celebrations for the extension of the tram from Victoria Square to North Tce.
Mon.15.10. Out of the water. I left the boat with friends at Waikerie, then continued home via Mallee pub photography.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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I passed Globe Hotel while heading upriver, and assumed that it was just the landing platform for a hotel out on the main road.
Later I was told that it is a floating hotel (in the style of restaurants in Thailand and Cambodia).
As I came downriver on Saturday, the proprietor was aboard, so I called in.
Strictly, it isn't a hotel: it is a private joke. We spent a pleasant 30 min chatting, while the owner shouted me to a can of beer, and showed me the toilet built in an unroofed burnt-out tree stump. I still reached Blanchetown for 18.00 (ie still daylight), having left Waikerie at 6.40, and spent 10-15 min in lock 2 (the gates are slow), 2 h at Morgan and 30 min at 'Globe Hotel'.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Jessie's looking pretty good there Roderick,
The river also looks quite nice.
On those lines the lake has turned glassy in the nice weather. Cath has indicated she's willing to lend a hand, so I think we'll have Grebe floating by the time Uni starts...to take in the most of a falling lake!
A floating hotel, now that is an interesting one! Has anyone actually looked into this as an actual business? Or would liability insurance (aka drowning) be too higher price to pay?
Sean
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I couldn't try going aboard PV Murray River Queen at Waikerie by rafting off it, but it must count as a floating hotel.
It trades as a bed & breakfast establishment.
The restaurant serves meals on Friday and Saturday nights.
I am not sure when the cafe is open.
I don't know if it is possible to go aboard just for a beer.
I was alongside a floating bottle shop during Randell Cadell. I had run out of stock of red wine, but an adjacent paddleboat was selling bottles from the owner's estate.
There are certainly riverside vineyards with cellar-door sales at which boats call. I have taken Jessie II to Chateau Tabilk and Mitchelton (Goulburn River), and Cape Horn (Murray River). On other boats, I have called at Mildara (Murray River) and Trentham Estate (Murray River).
Related to floating hotels: floating churches.
We have mentioned PS Etona in other parts of paddleducks.
One church commissioned a floating mission on Lake Eildon: a houseboat with a chaplain. I suspect that the ability to use it diminished with the receding water, and the lack of customers out there to service. Or perhaps custom was up, counselling suicidal boat owners who could no longer use their investment?
In Cambodia I have seen a whole church on pontoons (ie just like a land-built one, but floating). At the same location there was a floating school, and a floating basketball stadium.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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I launched Jessie II at Wentworth on Sat.10.11 around 18.00, and spent the night moored at the caravan park.
Sun.11.11: up Darling River to 62 km, the supposed head of navigation. There was a channel to one side of the trees there, but it looked weedy, so I didn't press on. However, a tinny had gone through only 10 min earlier. I got all the way back to the caravan park: 122 km for the day, in 11 h.
Mon.12.11: down through lock 10, then 4 km down, back up again, retrieve.
Lots of people prefer the Darling for boating: good water in the pool, few snags, narrower than the Murray so the scenery is closer in. Historically, it carried more cargo than the Murray. However, it has been nobbled worse than the Murray with water deprivation, weirs without locks, and low-level bridges.
Not many sightings:
PS Ruby in its restoration dock, no people visible.
MV Kookaburra: advertising Sunday lunch cruises around the junction and up the Darling. mobile 0429 133 237, no website or e-mail.
One nice monohull houseboat well up (Lady Wentworth or Lady Darling).
The former dry dock for PV Coonawarra looked quite unused, and weed choked.
Below lock 10 I was in 1.1 m for a short stretch; perhaps I had missed the channel?
Gossip: a house boat was damaged when it was dragged by a tractor over a short shallow section near lock 8.
Two locks (5 and another) will be out of use for 3 months each in 2008 for maintenance.
Jessie II is now at Robinvale, ready for the Sat.8.12 celebrations for the centenary of PS Canally. The town ramp is too short, and has a drop-off ledge; the organiser of the event will launch my boat on a dirt ramp at the restoration site, using a tractor.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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My Fri.7-Mon.10.12 cruise from Robinvale/Euston was reported under PS Canally (Preserved paddlboats forum); photos from the cruise appeared there and in APAM lop (Research forum).
Bits from my 31.12-3.1 Deep Creek cruise have appeared in various places:
* Mon.31.12: I left Melbourne around 13.00, called past Michael's farm (photo of MV Bunyip in the Bunyip thread, in this forum), collected Jessie II, met friends in Echuca, and launched at Deep Creek Marina (1630 km) around 18.30, in time for dinner in the bistro (photos of models of PS Emmylou and PS Pevensey in the New Year thread in the Chat forum). The band was very loud, and there was a cover charge. I settled in for the evening with other boaties at the dock; we could the hear the band sufficiently well. My closest neighbour was cruising a classy sailer trailer (60 cm draught) with the mast not in place.
* Tues.1.1: I went upriver for 30 min, to show the Murray to a girl from Germany, touring Australia & NZ for 9 months. Docking again, the reverse gear failed. I didn't ram any other boat, but I was now stranded at Deep Creek until a mechanic could attend next day.
* Wed.2.1: The mechanic came in the afternoon. I could have cruised 3 h to Torrumbarry, to salvage by Koondrook cruise (a further 104 km) next day, but elected to stay with the friends and the bistro, and shorten the cruise.
* Thurs.3.1: From a 7.15 start, I reached Torrumbarry weir & lock at 10.00. The wind was brisk. As I went into reverse as part of manoeuvering into the lock, it failed again. I yelled to the lockmaster that I was in trouble and would be aborting the locking. Then forwards failed. He helped fend me off the concrete wall. The wind blew me onto the yellow buoys which do prevent boats from drifting over the weir. While the lockmaster collected his boat, Jessie II blew along the buoys to the Victorian bank. I phoned the mechanic; the lockmaster found the fault (a loose circlip had allowed the operating rod to come off its pin). I could have salvaged the cruise as planned, but elected to return to Deep Creek in case of further trouble (lots of people above the weir; nobody below it). There was no trouble, but I was now sufficiently early to retrieve on Thursday, drop the boat at my brother's farm, and return to Melbourne. Along the way I photographed PV Florence Annie from the water, and PV Wanganui from the road (photos in APAM lop).
I am timing my next cruises to coincide with MV Spirit II's Echuca - Albury cruising, probably launching at Barmah, to Yarrawonga (below the weir) & return, then launch at Yarrawonga (above the weir), to Albury & return. The paddleboats which I will see then have appeared in APAM lop before, but I may get a couple at Picnic Point which I haven't seen before.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Jan.RNV ran a day late.
I left Melbourne on Tues.29.1 to collect Jessie II, launch at Barmah that afternoon, and cruise 20 km through the fast and narrow and snaggy Barmah Choke section of Murray River, to catch up to Spirit II at Picnic Point. I would then run in tandem to Tocumwal and Yarrawonga, then return in 2 days over what had taken 3 days. The plan failed.
* Tues.29: We arrived at Barmah after Spirit II had left (lunch stop at the pub), but the ramp was unsuitable. We stayed for dinner at the pub (in hindsight, we should have driven to Tocumwal while there was still daylight).
* Wed.30: We checked an alternate ramp at Barmah Lake: gravel, and in a swift current. We drove to Tocumwal, launched, and set out downriver from 1886 km. At 1871 km we ran over a transverse snag and were stuck. After 10 min of relaxing with a cup of tea, 30 min of rocking resulted in us being free. The goal for the day had been 1866 km, to lie in wait for Spirit II, and follow it back. At 1867 km we saw it approaching, we rounded up, and followed it through the treacherous section (a better channel at 271 km). There were more trouble spots; we hit another snag (no damage, the motor was unlocked); the other was stuck for a few minutes on sand. The day ended at Tocumwal. We had seen PV Betsy, moored at about 1877 km.
Thurs.31: 7.30 start, up through the treacherously snagged 1888 - 1894 km section, but snags all day. We avoided getting stuck on one transverse one, but we did hit six, and ran into sand twice. Spirit II overtook just past Cobram, with cheers from the crew and passengers. It was much faster on the easy bits. When we reached Yarrawonga at 19.00, it had already been winched onto a trailer, and relaunched above the weir. We had seen PV Julie Fay about 10 km above Cobram. At Yarrawonga, we saw that fake SWPV Paradise Queen has had the stern wheel removed.
Fri.1.2: 7.00 start, much faster running, and much better avoidance of snags (we hit only two). Tocumwal arr. 15.30, retrieve and home.
I am placing the Betsy photo into APAM lopm 15-page forum (as an edit of a 1.6.07 post, on page 12). Here are the two nonpaddlers from this cruise.
* Yarrawonga: MV Jessie II at the head of continuous navigation from Goolwa, 1987 km. Fri.1.2.08. (Roderick Smith)
* Ulupna Island: MV Spirit II on an Echuca - Albury cruise. Wed.30.1.08. (Roderick Smith)
Yarrawonga Weir was built in the late 1930s, without a lock. Previously, the river was navigable from Goolwa to Albury (Hume Weir, also without a lock, was above the head of navigation). The pool level of Lake Mulwala, formed by Yarrawonga Weir, is 126 m above sea level. Notice: the average fall of Murray River below here is 6 cm per km.
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My delayed March cruise was on Lake Eildon, formed by an enlarged dam on Goulburn River (a mid 1950s project). This was never commercial-cruising territory, and there is no paddle vessel on the lake.
I collected Jessie II on Fri.14.3. As I drove south through Nagambie, Michael was driving north (returning home from a week at trade school). I launched at Jerusalem Creek marina that evening.
Sat.: up the Goulburn, Howqua and Big rivers.
Sun.: to the dam wall, with the original Sugarloaf weir wall laid bare behind the current one.
I retrieved at lunchtime, and returned Jessie II to the Merrigum base (my brother's farm).
The original 1920s Sugarloaf Weir impounded the amount of the current Eildon Weir at 11%.
As ever, I had lots of conversations with people who admire the traditional lines of my boat (even though it isn't a paddle one).
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Dec.08 cruise.
I launched at Loxton on Sat.20.12 afternoon, then headed downstream to Overland Corner (linking with the upstream end of an earlier cruise), then upstream to Berri and Lyrup. There were not many paddleboats in the whole stretch:
* a wreck about 3 km downstream of Loxton (posted to Goolwa wrecks).
* QPV Tamara Rae, moored at Moorook (about 1 km downstream of the public mooring).
* A houseboat, possible ex Liba Liba, at Kingston-on-Murray.
* PV Ronald Henry, lying at Lyrup. Adjacent is a withdrawn wooden punt. IIRC, I saw this one as a work barge at Berri (only 10 km downstream) on an earlier visit. The punt in action at Lyrup is a modern metal one.
I also enclose a photo of Jessie II in lock 4, Bookpurnong. This is my favourite lock photogenically, because of the backdrop of limestone cliffs. Boat crew are not allowed ashore in locks, but most lockkeepers will take my camera and get a shot for me.
On this cruise I also passed through lock 3, Overland Corner.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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For my post-Christmas cruise, I drove to SA over Tues.30 & Wed.31.12. At Moorook, QWPV Tamara Rae had been shifted into a town-centre mooring since my visit a week earlier. I collected Jessie II from Waikerie, launched at Border Cliffs, and headed 30 km upriver. I was heading to Wentworth and return, the loneliest section of Murray River, and 200 km each way. My boat can do 100 km per day with ease, but there would be some tricky sections, and four locks to traverse (free passage, but restricted hours: 8.00-11.30, then 13.00-16.30). The stretch also included the notorious Warrakoo reach, below lock 7: about 1 km of very shallow and narrow channel, with a dogleg. Going up, I strayed onto 70 cm; coming down I got through on minimum 1 m. Far worse was weed above lock 7; a 4 km stretch was choked completely, with no channel. I tiptoed between clumps, with frequent stops to clear the prop. I saw a few stern-wheel and quarter-wheel paddle houseboats along the way. I made the schedule with ease: lock 7 Rufus River on Thurs.1.1 morning; lock 8 Wangumma that afternoon; lock 9 Kulnine on Fri.2.1 morning; lock 10 Wentworth mid afternoon. That was interesting: my first sharing with big boats. There was a sternwheel houseboat in first, then two outboard ones, a ski boat beside the houseboats, and my launch last. I cruised up Darling River for 2 km (to give my first mate the chance to claim a portion of the Darling), photographed PV Murrundi tucked in behind PS Ruby, then moored at the caravan park.
Dinner was at Captain Sturt Hotel. One photo on the bar wall showed PS Excelsior moored at Wentworth, opposite the mouth of Tucker Creek.
Sat.3.1: down through locks 10 & 9.
Sun.4.1: down through locks 8 & 7, and in to Border Cliffs. We drove into Renmark for dinner at Tower Tavern, a riverside hotel/bistro, with just a brief glimpse of PS Industry along the way. We didn't walk up to view barge Argo.
Mon.5.1: retrieve, then to Cobdogla. PS Roy is still on the hard, with no obvious sign of restoration work commencing.
Tues.6.1: to Waikerie to leave the boat, with a quick check on PV Murray River Queen. Then to Euston to watch the preparations for raising PS Canally (see separate post), then home.
Extra: MV Kookaburra was at lock 7, being transferred from Wentworth to Mannum for its operational base. It isn't paddle, but is a rarity on the Murray: a large screw-driven commercial vessel. Top of head, the only others are MV Maryanne at Echuca and MV Expedition at Murray Bridge, so we tend to include rather than exclude. Kookaburra was built for lunch cruises at Port Adelaide. I haven't got a date for its relocation to Swan Hill. I do have a date for its relocation to Wentworth (delayed at Euston for a few months), and photos of it at Swan Hill, Euston and Wentworth. The lockmaster told me that the voyage will continue in January.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Thurs.2.4: delayed by an errand in Melbourne, I left in the early afternoon via south-western pub photography.
Fri.3.4: Jessie II was not ready; special paint was being heat cured overnight. I spent the night at Callington (Adelaide Hills).
Sat.4.4: I collected Jessie II at Mt Barker, and photographed it beside a more-recent variant of the design (Extempore, a Mundoo III). I launched at the very steep public ramp at Murray Bridge (using a friend's truck). I moored alongside PV Matilda (currently for sale): it had come downriver from Purnong on Thursday.
On the other side was PV Flender Himmel, which had beaten me in by 2 h.
Further downriver was local replica PS Cato, in light steam. It was having boiler problems, and would be in any parades, but would be able to steam back to its berth upstream of the two bridges.
Slightly upriver was PS Marion. It was making regular short cruises, and had added a 17.00 one to the program. It was operating from the bank in the National Machinery Rally grounds, but would overnight at the pumpout wharf. It had come down from Mannum on Wednesday, and would leave at 13.00 Mon. as a public cruise back to Mannum.
The other boats were three classic 1930s cruising launches (my guess 15 m), and lots of wooden dinghies.
At the public wharf were PV Captain Proud (making a lunch cruise and a dinner cruise) and PV Madam Jade (a trading vessel).
I went in the 13.00 parade, caught up with gossip, and took the evening dinner cruise on Captain Proud.
Sun.5.4: I was in two parades, with the gap spent viewing part of the display, which was large and varied. By organising a car drop, I was able to retrieve at the much easier ramp at Long Island Marina, and cover most of the distance to Renmark. I spent the evening parked along a really nice 1930s two-storey stone hotel at Wanbi.
Mon.6.4: I launched at Border Cliffs former Customs house, and just made the 74 km to Renmark, in daylight, including an easy passage through lock 6. I moored in front of Renmark Club (almost tying the stern line onto the bistro verandah), and dined there. Below lock 6 I saw an unnamed Mundoo (a larger variant of my Tennessee), but had no time to pause for a chat. At Renmark, a new lower-level public wharf was being constructed, with the contractor bringing PV Hebe towing his work barge.
Tues.7.4: An easy day. I feared that I had miscalculated the clearance of the lifting bridge, and would have to wait until the 9.30 opening (one of two for the day, the other being at 14.00; both must be prebooked with 2 h notice). Instead, I cleared with ease at 8.00, and made an 8.30 passage through lock 5, after waiting for a houseboat coming upriver. I reached Lyrup for an early lunch (the upper limit of a previous cruise), and was back to view the afternoon bridge opening, but it wasn't needed. The big surprise: not far below lock 5 I saw PV Murrundi heading downriver. It had been up the creek at Renmark overnight. I guess that it had needed the 9.30 bridge opening. I spent the afternoon at the library's internet facility, and shopping, then moored at Tower Tavern for an evening work session on RNV and for dinner. I saw most of the Liba Liba sternwheel houseboat fleet, and PS Industry (steaming on Sat. & Sun. over Easter) and barge Argo.
Wed.8.4: I had damaged my prop on a log at the tavern wharf, and was cruising more slowly (10 km/h instead of 13 km/h), so I couldn't make the 11.30 last morning locking. Instead I poked for a couple of kilometres up Chowilla Creek, then paused for lunch at the lock holding tieup, and was straight in for a 13.00 locking (shared with two tinnies on a long-distance camping safari). I was back at Border Cliffs by 14.30, and loaded to go by 16.00. Again, I had an RNV work session and dinner, this time at Paringa pub.
Thurs.9.4: I made a morning run to Colignan to leave Jessie II on a friend's property (in a shed) until the June Ruby event at Wentworth, then a simple 7 h drive home.
The next national rally will be held in Pinjarra (WA), with no waterway for boat participation.
First edit: I now have the photos of the Murray Bridge rally enclosed. I forgot to photograph my own boat alongside Matilda.
The wooden model was one of many on sale cheaply, and was placed in the wind and current by some young boys. Eventually it was retrieved with a boat hook.
Second edit: More paddleboats, plus riverside pubs and Jessie II sneaking under Paringa lifting-span bridge (built in 1927 as a combined rail & road bridge).
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Because I was overseas, I missed my spring cruising. My Christmas cruise was delayed by a trip to Queensland. For it, Michael brought Jessie II from Merrigum to Deep Creek (between Echuca and Torrumbarry). I was aiming to cruise upstream, through Echuca, to Barmah and Picnic Point, and catch up with lots of news. After a gearshift cable broke, I lost 2 days (moored conveniently in front of Deep Creek Hotel). Hence, all I saw of paddleboats upstream were PV Run Riot and PS Colonial Lass, at their base moorings. I did get to chat with one of Emmylou's captains. Because there was sufficient water (600 mm) over the sill at Torrumbarry, I went downstream and through the lock, but had run out of time to cruise for more than a token 6 km below the lock.
My only news has come from Michael: PS Pevensey has still not received the maintenance required for it continue carrying passengers.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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With the water up I had lots of choices for which difficult stretch to traverse; the planning was also juggling around my February cruise, and positioning to Goolwa for Wooden Boat Festival, then Renmark.
I chose Swan Hill - Robinvale as a one-way downstream, as I could return on a public-transport bus to retrieve my car and trailer.
I would have to launch downstream of the bridge at Swan Hill (no height, even for my boat, and the raising mechanism has been out of action for 2 years), have the Nyah bridge raised, but could sneak under Tooleybuc bridge.
Mon.27.12: I left Melbourne in the morning, collected my deckie and boat, loaded all fuel and provisions, and launched at Swan Hill at 17.00.
We were invited to an evening barbecue cruise upriver aboard PV Iron Dry, along with owners of other boats in port. MV Emu had completed its Goolwa - Yarrawonga voyage, but was now stuck until the water drops. It had got past Koondrook/Barham bridge (one also with a failed mechanism) only because the bridge span was raised using two cranes. Also in port were resident PV Shay, PV Black Shag and PV Temeraire (on which we were hosted to supper). Commercial PV Pyap lives at the folk museum, near landlocked PS Gem.
Tues.28.12: We set forth at 7.00, and soon passed a quarterwheeler party boat, and PV Murrundi, stranded during an upriver voyage.
On the current magnificent water, everybody should be able to go everywhere, with plenty of water above snags.
In the continuing parts of this documentary: plenty of water is not unallayed bliss. The lock at Robinvale has been closed because it is too dangerous.
Other locks have been bypassed by opening the weir for through water flow, with the navigation pass in use.
My proposed February jaunt upriver from Swan Hill would require the lifting of bridges at Murrabit (available) and Koondrook/Barham (not available).
Because so much water has flowed out of forests, with lots of accumulated leaf/bark litter, there is huge oxygen deprivation. Every hour, we would cruise past a floating dead Murray Cod. We also saw no cormorants: there were no fish for them to catch (also no pelicans). River shrimp/ prawns/crays/yabbies were crawling up banks in a desperate attempt to find oxygen.
Enclosed: photos of a few of the abovementioned boats.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Tues.28.12.10.
The aim today was Swan Hill (1410 km) to Tooleybuc (1320 km), plus doubling back along the short passage around Beveridge Island (6 km each way).
The water was so high that we also did a double back through the shortcut at Murphy's Island (500 m each way).
Opening of bridges is free, but is usually done only at set times, and only by advance booking.
Because this was not a busy link with a town on each shore, I could have a choice of time; because of Christmas holidays, I had to book a few days in advance, and nominated 14.00. On the day, we were making such good progress (12-13 km/h with the current), that I was able to arrange by mobile phone for a 13.00 opening. This was a public holiday, but the three council workers were able to adjust.
We left Swan Hill at 7.15, and soon passed PV Murrundi (photo posted about three posts ago, taken during a different cruise).
The old river channel is normally too snagged, but we cruised around it with ease, and hit only two snags. River distances are marked via it, and the island is still officially Victorian. We then turned up the new channel, and could make only 7 km/h against the current. There is a private punt crossing to the island, for farming access. Normally one has to phone in advance to have the cables lowered, but that was unnecessary today: my boat is shallow draft, and even a deeper one would have had no trouble.
At 1377 km we crossed the public Speewa Punt, but I was busy phoning for bridge times while in mobile range, and didn't take a photo (I have photos from earlier visits, by road, when the water was much lower).
We reached Nyah bridge (1357 km) at 12.40, and laid off at the bank for lunch. The crew arrived at about 12.55, and had 15 min of preparation: four clamps which hold the bridge stable when trucks pass over have to be removed, then the truck with the hydraulic pump must be parked on the bridge and coupled, traffic stopped, and span up. The movement is quite fast, and so the crew gave me a generous vertical clearance. This bridge is more recent than most (1940s), and has welded metal girders instead of wooden trusses. While we were waiting, a speedboat came up river. It had the clearance to get under, but when the skipper guessed what was about to happen, it rounded up and went downstream to lie in wait and photograph my boat coming through. My deckie took a photo on his camera, but I don't have it yet to post here. We couldn't quite relax: the engineer had phoned me. Since assuring me that I would fit under Tooleybuc bridge (completed in 1925, wooden truss), the river had risen. However, there was more clearance available under the fixed spans. At Murphy's island, after going via the river, we ducked back up the short cut: knocked to 4 km/h in the current. We did fit under the side channel at Tooleybuc, and tied up around 16.00 on the downstream side of the bridge, then rang the engineer to reassure him that we would not be needed a Wednesday morning opening. There is a nice pub straight opposite the mooring and the bridge, so we dined there with no need to cook aboard.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Wed.29.12.10
This was the grand-adventure day. It is rare for Murray River to be navigable for even a tinnie through the 2 km Bitch & Pups rapids section below Goodnight. Most years, a big boat can get through by waiting for a brief rise, and sneaking through. This isn't just shallow and snagged, it runs over a rocky rapid. It is also narrow, and with overhanging branches. Friends coming upriver in October got through on 2 m in comfort. Jessie II zoomed through on 6-7 m.
The full journey was Tooleybuc 1320 km to Wakool Jn 1285 km, then an estimated 32 km up Wakool River to Edwards Jn, and quick pokes of 1 km up the Edwards, 2 km up the Wakool, and 4 km back to Kyalite: 77 km.
Bitch & Pups lies between 1305 km and 1303 km.
At the confluence, the Murray is the minor river, making a T junction with the Wakool (the original Murray).
Wakool River was impressive in this water, and smooth: there were too many great reflections to pass each.
At Kyalite, we passed under the new bridge, and saw PV Bungunyah (subject of its own thread, see www.paddleducks.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5469.0). The junction of the Edwards was hard to find, as water had flooded into redgum forests on both sides of both rivers, and over the separating spit. After one false move into the forest, we found the main channel, and continued up for a short distance (we were running out of time), and met two fishermen in a tinnie who said that they hadn't got to that spot for many years. After sampling a bit of the Wakool above the confluence, we returned to Kyalite, and tied up at the site of the old bridge, in front of the pub. It does meals only at weekends, so we used the onboard griller oven to cook our own dinner, but did spend time in the pub meeting locals. It had several photos of the old bridge on display. One view appears in the Bungunyah thread. The other is here, but I have had major trouble showing the curved counterweight track.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Roderick.... :bravo ....on behalf of our PD membership :gathering ....we thank you for your continued snaps of :crash of OZ water & ships.......keep up the good work for twenty eleven..... :beer ....Derek
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Thanks for the nice pics and descriptions. How do you guys cope with the huge flood down-under?
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Flooding tends to move rapidly.
Most towns are built above flood levels, but can be isolated when approach roads are blocked.
Those buildings in vulnerable spots are protected with sandbag levees.
Others are built on stilts.
Others will be flooded, and are evacuated.
The Murray Darling is high, but not really in flood.
The ecology of redgum forests is that the trees want to get their roots wet every year or so, and that is happening now, after several years of drought.
The proposed new management policy wants to cut irrigation to provide environmental flows.
Over years, major dams have been built to buffer water supply over many years. AFAIK every Murray-Darling dam is full, except for Dartmouth (the topmost, which is 70%). The flow in the river is from the plains below the dams: rising fast, and falling fast.
Queensland, which has always been more flood prone, is different. There are emergency flights bringing food into cities isolated by flooding, but not every part of every town is underwater. Modern tinnies have sufficient power to work against strong flood currents, and deliver food to people and stock, or rescue either. They do have to be careful to avoid waterborne debris.
The biggest Murray flood in recent history was in 1956: both the Murray and the Darling were in flood at the same time, hitting river towns from Wentworth (NSW) through SA. A lot has been published about this flood, and a book was printed for the 2006 50th anniversary celebrations. I have various posts elsewhere about the event. 1956 was a last hurrah for many paddlesteamers. They were brought out of retirement to rescue stock and deliver supplies. Wentworth still commemorates the 'Fergies which saved Wentworth'. The Ferguson was was a small tractor, suitable for operation between rows of fruit trees and vines, and was very popular with fruit-block owners. The Fergies worked ceaselessly to raise and repair levee banks, and saved the town.
None of the major capitals is affected (ie not another New Orleans), and most of the riverside towns and cities have been built to be clear of most flooding. Low land is devoted to caravan parks and sportsgrounds.
Enclosed: a photo of Lake Nagambie rising over the caravan park at Nagambie, as Goulburn River flooded. I was at a Wooden Boat Association rally. We were told on Sunday morning to evacuate, and did so. The four boats in the photo had floated over the edge of the lake. My low-draft boat could well have gone another 50 m by afternoon.
Post edit: I have tidied some words, and added a photo from Luke (builder of PS Billy Tea) which came to me via Michael. This is Gundagai, with Murrumbidgee River flooding over the low-lying parts, but below the modern road bridge, the old road bridge, and the disused railway bridge. Back in history, Gundagai was the limit of navigation for paddlesteamers.
Edit: Here is a link to an ABC news item on Queensland flooding: www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/02/3105016.htm
Wednesday edit:
The Wed.5.1 Melbourne 'Herald Sun' news item has links to several videos.
eg http://video.heraldsun.com.au/1720522550/Scenes-from-the-flood?area=endslate1
or start at the top, and link your way through
www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national
www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/01/02/3105016.htm
has a good view of why the airport is closed.
Of course, the grimmest scenes feature in the coverages. The typical
Queenslander house is designed on stilts for two reasons: air circulation to
reduce the effect of hot weather, and protection against ordinary flooding. A
lot of the problems are not the flooding as such, but the disruption to life and
being cut off from supply lines.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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....Modern tinnies have sufficient power to work against strong flood currents, and deliver food to people and stock, or rescue either....
Now there's a coincidence, at the exact moment I was reading this, I looked at the TV and it was exactly what was happening on BBC news- but in Rockhampton (I think that's where he said it was)
They also said there are crocodiles and venomous snakes in it so best resist the temptation for a quick swim!
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Thurs.30.12:
This was an easy day.
7.15 dep. Kyalite
9.42 confluence of Wakool and Murray (1.5 h faster than the upstream run)
13.00 turn into Murrumbidgee River
13.55 round up
14.40 regain Murray River
15.15 run up through the Murphy's Island cutoff & back
15.48 Boundary Bend.
I did a petrol resupply. We could have eaten at the roadhouse, but we had prepared two meals in one baking on Wednesday. After dinner we were invited onto a neighbouring houseboat for a pleasant evening quaffing beer and swapping river stories.
On both of these days we saw no fishermen and no waterskiers, also no cormorants and no pelicans. With blackwater killing fish, the birds had moved elsewhere; the fishermen had no reason to be out, and the traditional holiday riverbanks couldn't access their sites: underwater.
Fri.31.12:
On about five long straight stretches, we picked up a head wind and substantial chop. The long lean aspect ratio of the hull helped the ride be smooth, but constant helm correction was needed. We saw lots more dead floating Murray Cod, and grazed a couple of floaters.
7.19 dep. Boundary Bend
14.45 arr. Euston
The last 60 km were in the pool of Euston weir. I had been up by 44 km before, and so we took the shortcut around Bumbang Island, and saved 12 km and an hour. We tied up behind the pumpout, a short walk across the riverbank lawns to Euston Club, where we got a table from which we could see the boat. The Club had been a long-time financial supporter of the restoration of PS Canally locally. After working on RNV for the late afternoon, we enjoyed the special buffet, then joined the New Years Eve party until an 0.15 return to the boat. In other years, I have had New Years Eve on the boat at Bonnie Doon (Lake Eildon), and Deep Creek Marina Hotel (Murray below Echuca).
AFAIK, the Murrumbidgee was the third busiest of the big ones (after Murray & Darling). It was surprisingly narrow and overhung. It was deep enough already, and more water was arriving soon (4.12 at Gundagai, and about 3 weeks of travel). Only a couple of days after my photo, two-deck PV Bungunyah would be beating up this stretch.
The third photo is miscaptioned: it is not Kyalite. The ripples looked severe, but the boat coped.
Edit: I have now added a photo of MV Maranoa, from my deckie. It was built from an old railway tender, and was originally a sternwheeler. It is moored at Robinvale. There are other photos in Paddleducks already: my first meeting with the boat and its owner was as it came up through Torrumbarry lock, in 2003.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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The voyage was going so well, and the boat was already fully provisioned. I hoped to continue to Mildura (2 days of 100 km, plus one more to retrieve and get home). That was not possible: the water is so high that the lock had been closed for traffic: too dangerous to approach. Fast-flowing water was spilling over the top of the weir.
My original plan had been to catch a bus to Swan Hill to collect the car & trailer. Time was saved when a Swan Hill friend offered to bring the car & trailer to Robinvale; I could then drop him home. The local friend who would be holding my boat on his property would join me on his tinnie for a circuit of Bumbang Island.
As I was eating breakfast, there was a tap on the window: 'Good morning, may I have a look at your boat? - mine is up there on a trailer'.
He had another Bolger Tennessee, one which I have never seen before. Moonshine is 10 m long (Jessie II is 9 m), and has a different fitout. He launched, and joined our convoy. We had morning tea at Robinvale, then set out at 10.00, up through the short cut (4 km/h against the current), then 12 km downriver, with a pause at the Canally restoration site. Since the earlier photos in a different thread, the boat was relocated about 200 m into a side creek to prevent a second sinking. Tarpaulins reduce the amount of water ingested. The restoration people come down twice per week to pump out the bilge (the automatic setting on the pump can't be trusted), and the boat is moored on a slight side angle to facilitate drainage.
Photos today:
* The original Euston Hotel.
* The two Tennessees together, with Euston Club visible. New Years Eve dinner had been in the dining room, which is the curved window overlooking the mooring.
* Moonshine cruising at about 13 km/h. These are displacement hulls.
* A sternwheel houseboat. I am not a fan of boxes on pontoons, but they should be easy to model.
* Canally, with the opening for the paddlebox near the camera, and the high water spilling into the forest into the distance.
I am hoping to do the Robinvale to Swan Hill around Australia Day (26.1), then leave the boat with a friend and collect it there to continue to Goolwa Wooden Boat Festival.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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The cd of photos from my deckie has arrived. I will be editing most posts to include extra views. Those who have been following the series should drop back in a week, and check the lot for additions.
We didn't photograph the dead cod, but we saw lots.
I agree with the locals: it is too late. A release of Goulburn water will take 3 weeks to reach Wemen and Mildura.
See www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/dirty-water-leads-to-fish-kill/story-e6frf7kx-1225983825252. which covers the facts and has a graphic photo.
We were seeing about one to three dead fish per hour.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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The water at Euston kept going up, not down. The lock would not be available for several weeks. It is possible to bypass the weir on the NSW side, and head through the forest. However the trees are close together and the current is fierce. My friend tried it in a powerful tinnie, and knew that my boat would lack the power and ability to manoeuvre. Since I have to come back to do the lock anyhow, I opted to start at the next good ramp: Wemen, 40 km below the lock.
My two guests were railway enthusiasts, on a first-time river adventure.
We left Melbourne on Fri.28.1 morning, and had to detour from Wycheproof via Swan Hill because other roads were closed by flooding or flood damage. We arrived in Robinvale in time to provision the boat, but launching would wait to morning.
After a pleasant evening at the hotel bistro, we slept in the boat as a caravan at my friend's property.
On Sat.29.1 morning we headed to Wemen to launch, now with luscious fresh grapes and tomatoes as a farewell gift.
After an easy launching, we set forth at 10.00, at 1066 km. It took a while to detect the first of the blue 2 km markers: I suspect that many were under water. On reduced revs (sticky throttle cable, to be replaced in Mildura), we were making an easy 12-13-14 km/h, with no snags, no floaters, and no more dead fish (also no campers, no waterskiers, no fisherman and no cormorants). The river was ours alone.
At Retail Cutting, the short cut is the main channel. Despite the water, the original passage seemed to be too weedy to explore, and we didn't. At Tarpaulin Cutting, we didn't explore, and just as well: that is the start of a 64 km anabranch, Bengallow Creek. It is narrow, filled with trees, and had a ferocious current. Friends in three tinnies were making a through journey that day. The needed the power and ability to manoevre, and had to clear a few overhanging limbs. We paused at Colignan, the base for PV Impulse and PV Mosquito, but I couldn't find an easy mooring in the current, and couldn't see the hull of PV Wanera. As we continued, we met the three tinnies coming back upriver from their successful day through the creek, so we paused in midriver for a quick chat. The day finished at Nangiloc, 970 km, around 17.00 (only 90 km, as the shortcut saved 6 km). The temperature was now close to 40 deg. Having provisioned to cook our own dinner, we didn't. Although the town is small, it has a pub (a Smith tradition is cruising from pub to pub). We had a pleasant dinner there. The only downside was the swarm of mosquitos through the night. I was ok in the front cabin, but my guests were kept awake for much of the night.
I did retropost some extra photos with the previous voyage, which some regular viewers won't have seen yet.
Today:
A sternwheel houseboat at Wemen.
The flooded bank, showing a nearly-submerged kilometre marker.
Jessie II at Nangiloc
The all-in one general store (incorporating a petrol station and a post office), with River Bend Tavern at the rear.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
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mmmm PD's..... I also notice Roderick...that the "The all-in one general store (incorporating a petrol station and a post office)" ...is also a :beer shop....... :s_cool
Interesting postings as usual........thanks......Derek
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Yes, a licenced grocer too (=off licence for UK readers). Australian riverboating isn't quite the same as catching a Thames paddlesteamer to Henley.
My first memory of locks came from a scene in the film of Jerome K Jerome's novel Three men in a boat, which I saw in Adelaide in 1959.
For my recent cruise, we set forth at 7.30 on Sun.30.1. My two companions had been kept awake all night by mosquitos, and went back to bed. I was killing three per minute for the first 3 h, then the heat building scared them all away until dusk. At 944 km I saw the top end of a short cut, and resolved to try it from the downstream end. When I reached it, there seemed to be too many trees. I turned into the bottom of Bengallow Creek, and did a token kilometre: the current was fierce, and there were big snags. On reduced power, I almost ran into trouble rounding up. The reefs and shallows were under at least 5 m of water; this was very easy cruising. There was an easy mooring (private but vacant) at Karadoc, so we went ashore. This is the normal head of the pool of Mildura weir, and is the mooring point for several huseboats and paddleboats. But for the tricky Warrakoo section, the river should be navigable from here to Goolwa in all seasons and all years. Continuing, I was pulled over by water police. I am not sure whether this was for curiosity (my boat is rare and different), or whether the river had been closed for small craft because of the current and the risk of hitting floating limbs. I don't tow a waterskier, and reassured him that I had come through from Swan Hill with no problems at all. He gave me some information regarding the public ramp, public moorings and weir, and zoomed off. Our plan had been to spend the night at the Gol Gol pub mooring, but it was well underwater and mooring would have to be amid trees. It was also only lunchtime, and my guests were determined to book into an airconditioned motel for the night. We continued to Mildura, and a bit below. On the way we passed the moored commercial boats PV Mundoo and PV Rothbury. The weir is unique on the Murray, and possibly in Australia. It is a Dethridge type: wedge-shaped sections on rails, which can be pulled out of the river. This was the first time when I had seen it out, so we cruised through the main channel as far as Old Mildura Homestead (where only PV Iraak was at the mooring opposite), then back up. Downstream, we were following PS Melbourne on its afternoon cruise. The public mooring was in a very convenient position, close to the main street and to the railway & bus station. I spent some of the afternoon chatting with houseboat people moored alongside, and the evening at the cheaper restaurant associated with Grand Hotel, getting some RNV work done.
I have added an interior of the Nagiloc pub: Big Cod Bar. It comes in a bar half (fairly basic, with a pool table and tv) and the bistro half. Both look out onto a pleasant lawn area with barbecue and a shelter for bands which come to play (right of frame in my cross view). The various paddleboats seen at Karadoc all were at 2010 Wentworth Junction Rally, and I have posted photos of them there too. One boat isn't a paddler: it is a bus mounted on pontoons to be a houseboat.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Mon.31.1: I spent the morning alongside at Mildura while a technician replaced the throttle cable. I saw PS Melbourne come downstream from its mooring to collect passengers for the morning cruise, then continue downriver. My guests caught a bus back to Robinvale to collect the car and trailer, then had trouble: the spare wheel fell off the trailer. They retrieved it. We met at the boat ramp, and went upstream to test the new cable. The motor was getting normal revs again, and pulling more strongly against the current. We could have gone to Gol Gol for lunch, but didn't. We returned to come out of the water, but couldn't. The wheel incident was not simply loose studs: the whole welded mounting arm had broken at the weld. The wheel had bounced under the trailer, and had damaged three cross bearers and the brackets holding the rollers which hold the chine. I spent the afternoon finding a light-engineering workshop which could do the repairs in under 24 h. My guests would be returning to Melbourne by bus, so I also had to obtain approval from a boat yard to use its ramp for retrieval next day, out of the current, then position the car and the boat.
Tues.1.2: The owner of PV Settler was down checking his boat, so we talked for an hour, and I inspected his other boat: a 1930s 10 m screw-driven fishing boat. He helped me with the retrieval. After slow prepping for the drive, I left around 12.00, had lunch at Nangiloc pub, left the boat with friends at Colignan for 3 weeks, and was home by mid evening (Mildura - Melbourne is about 550 km).
The remaining photos will make about three batches.
Today, Karadoc to upstream of Mildura:
The two anonymous paddleboats, at Karadoc (one is named, but doesn't carry the name; the other seems to be unnamed).
Another SWPV houseboat
Two commercial boats
PV Settler, beside the ramp which I would be using 2 days later.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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A further five around Mildura, showing the weir out and boats using the main river channel instead of the lock. The lock at Mildura is built in a shortcut canal; all others are at one side of a weir. Normally the lock is the busiest on the river, and runs to a timetable: every 30 min downstream; every other 30 min upstream. It is one of the easiest locks to view, as it is in the heart of a main tourist centre. In the 1930s, the linked set of four big passenger paddlesteamers provided holiday voyages, linking with trains at Morgan, Renmark, Mildura, Swan Hill and Echuca; triangular trips were offered from Melbourne and from Adelaide; bus links from/to Albury helped Sydney and Canberra residents make similar voyages.
There is a reasonable amount about Dethridge and his weirs and wheels by Googling. In particular:
http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080314b.htm
It seems that there were only ever two in the world: Mildura and Torrumbarry. Dethridge was an Australian irrigation engineer, and also designed the Dethridge irrigation wheel, which measures water flow in channels. Torrumbarry Weir was replaced around 20 years ago: there was deterioration in the footings. The lock stayed put; the new weir was built on the opposite side of the lock from the old weir.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria
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Here are the final photos from my Jan.-Feb. Wemen - Mildura cruise.
I had hoped to add one showing the weir in place, taken in 2009 on a Wentworth - Mildura cruise. I was too busy running singlehanded to take photos that day at the lock or at the weir. On that occasion, I came up through lock 11 with PV Kulkyne, then went down with PS Melbourne, then hooked up the main channel to the weir exclusion markers. The channel was shallow, and I was excercising care. I wondered how the houseboats moored there got in and out.
Of the boats in yesterday's selection, PV Avoca no longer cruises; it is a static restaurant. PV Coonawarra isn't private: it is owned by a church group, and is kept in good order, and gets a reasonable amount of cruising for religious retreats. The spirit of PS Etona (built as a floating church) lives on.
PV Shiralee wasn't at its mooring: it was on the hard at Baldwin's yard for hull repainting, probably in time to voyage to Renmark. Also in the yard is a new paddleboat hull, about 23 m long, with graceful lines (ie a counter stern).
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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This is held every 2 years. I don't like the moorings or the wind, and had damage to my boat in 2005 & 2007. For 2009, I didn't take the boat, and had a more relaxing time as a spectator, chatting with friends and sampling their boats.
Having met Moonshine at Robinvale, which was crossing the lake to attend, I agreed to join as a duo. Moorings have been expanded and improved. I was too late to enrol: there was a cutoff this year. I had to go, just to cross the lake. This one requires full open-waters equipment, which I have. It is notorious for roughness because of windage on relatively-shallow water. Both PS Marion and PS Oscar W have had crossings with the sponsons dipping into the water.
Fri.25.2: I left Melbourne in the morning, collected Jessie II at Colignan, had a trailer bearing fail, but fortunately 2 km from a workshop which replaced it in 2 h, and spent the night at Loxton.
Sat.26.2: I reached Goolwa before lunch, left the boat on the trailer near the yacht club, and started inspecting everything. My mobile dropped into the water, and I lost time replacing it. I rode Moonshine in the parade. It had had a magic crossing of the lake on Friday, as had a fleet of tinnies voyaging from Mildura to raise funds for breast-cancer research (they had a coastguard escort). The weather report for the next 4 was was for strong wind from the worst angle. Our two boats abandoned the plan to cross. I never even got to launch. There were about 250 boats enrolled, with huge variety: small dinghies, launches, half-cabin cruisers, very large cruising launches, yachts, 1950s racing boats, but only a couple of paddlesteamers. PS Marion didn't come this year. PS Oscar W was providing frequent public cruises. PS William Randell was on display (and I rode as a guest in the Sunday parade). It is for sale, but not via an agent, and I didn't write down the mobile number for making enquiries.
Sun.27.2: was as hectic as Saturday.
Mon.28.2: I spent the morning as a deckie for Nomad III, another boat of the class to which Jessie II belongs. I then left, dropped my boat at Mt Barker for maintenance, and was home that evening.
Two small paddleboats are local, but ineligible: metal hulls.
There are two larger ones running as static b&b accommodation further around the shore.
I didn't see Gnatty this year, but I was chatting with the owner aboard a mutual friend's boat.
I haven't prepared the photos yet, so have just two today to set the scene.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Five photos taken on PS William Randell, during the Sunday parade.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Here is another selection from 2011 Goolwa Wooden Boat Festival.
Former PV Alice has been sold to new owners, but still local, and has been renamed Molly Ellen.
I have included a couple of photos of classy wooden cruisers. I wasn't trying to photograph every boat: too many boats, and too many people in the way.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Three of a kind were rafted alongside for Goolwa, and I didn't take a photo.
* Moonshine: had launched at Riverglen (Murray Bridge), then down the river and across Lake Alexandrina in perfect weather on Friday. Photos of this boat are attached to <www.paddleducks.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2475.msg29363#msg29363>. When the wind sprung up, the owner retrieved his car and trailer, and came out of the water at Goolwa to head home to Robinvale.
* Nomad III: An electric-powered version, with a high-level fitout. It is for sale. On Monday, I acted as deckie as we cruised to the pumpout at the far-inner end of Hindmarsh Marina, then back to the marina where it will be displayed to prospective purchasers. See <www.duckflatwoodenboats.com/mainpages/forsale2.php#MundooNomad>.
* Solway: The owner was still building this one when we met at my first Goolwa (2005). We were moored alongside at 2007 Goolwa, and I have also photographed Solway at 2007 Wentworth.
While heading into the marina, we saw the distinctive hull of another Tennessee (Ellen), but with a quite different superstructure. It had not been part of the display.
Enclosed today: photos of all of the above, plus Umli Gumli at an earlier Goolwa, taken from the Duck Flat website. AFAIK this one is now in NSW. I had to use a Wentworth photo for Solway.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Here are a few miscellaneous photos to complement the Goolwa coverage.
It seems that none of the three owners took a photo of the trio at Goolwa.
There is a photo of Jessie II with Moonshine already, at Euston:
www.paddleducks.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2475.msg29363#msg29363
There is one at an earlier Goolwa (2001?), for a former owner:
www.paddleducks.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2475.msg9369#msg9369
I have very few interior photos. The wheelhouse & galley (stove since upgraded to three burner with a griller oven) are at.
www.paddleducks.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2475.msg9372#msg9372
There is one with Extempore at Duck Flat's yard:
www.paddleducks.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2475.msg20730#msg20730
Today I enclose the rear view of those together.
Also: Jessie II at an Adelaide festival of wood: not just boats, but furniture and decorative objects.
The camera dated it 2005, but I am sure that that is wrong. I suspect 2007, rather than the 2009 which I have used in the file name.
I have added a few of the first Tennessee which I saw, when I had no plan to buy any boat. Crewzn was part of the Randell Cadell 150th anniversary fleet, voyaging from Blanchetown (SA, its home port) to Echuca)
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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I now have a photo of the three related boats moored inline abreast, from the builder & owner of Solway.
Regards,
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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I had multiple plans for participation at Renmark, constantly evolving:
* Cruise down and back with the Mildura private fleet.
* Voyage down aboard PS Ruby, and cruise back in tandem.
* Voyage down aboard PS Ruby, have Jessie II waiting, and cruise as part of the continuing fleet to Morgan, then bus back to get the car & trailer.
With the cancellation of the downriver continuation, and with the Darling still up to the levels which allowed PV Dromedary to reach Pooncarie bridge, I scrapped all of those plans, and positioned Jessie II at Wentworth instead. I still had multiple plans:
* Wentworth - Pooncarie - Wentworth (Mon.-Thurs., with Friday spare to go downstream to follow Ruby on its final stage home).
* Pooncarie - 60 km - Pooncarie (Mon.-Wed.).
* Pooncarie - Wentworth (Tues.-Wed.), mail truck back to collect the car and trailer.
All three would be followed by a Robinvale - Wemen - Robinvale to fill the gap left in February (lock 15 was now available).
Darling River is longer than Murray River, and carried more traffic. The only place where a railway competed for trade was Bourke (from the 1880s); the Broken Hill railway didn't come until the late 1920s. Many boaties prefer it to the Murray: more river like (steeper banks and narrower). However, it has suffered from unsympathetic treatment: fixed dams, fixed bridges, Queensland holding onto the headwaters for cotton growing. The first lock in Australia was at Bourke, but the chamber was filled in the 1940s. The lifting bridge at Bourke was replaced with a modern one. The lifting mechanism at Menindee was decommissioned.
Darling River is charted only to 62 km (the normal head of navigation). I didn't know what snags I would encounter, or how I would fare going above Burtundy Weir, and below Pooncarie bridge. At 230 km each way, I had to carry sufficient fuel to allow for a termination short of goal.
I consulted a lot of people, and was given helpful and positive advice. There are sufficient homesteads along the route to help in the event of failure or fuel shortage. I opted for one way, with Chris (owner of PV Florence Annie, kept on the Darling at Pomona) as deckie.
Sun.3.4: The bus bringing Ruby passengers back from Renmark arrived at sundown. I spent the evening at Royal Hotel (laptop work & dinner). People at the caravan park had seen Spirit of the Murray heading up the Darling on one of its regular cruises: probably the Mildura - Renmark, balancing the one which I had seen heading upriver a few days earlier.
Mon.4.4: I spent the morning provisioning and checking the mail truck, collected Chris in the afternoon, drove to Pooncarie, and launched on the road leading to the ramp (which was way under water). Retrieval would be tricky if I had to come back. We spent the evening at Telegraph Hotel, and a local gave a fresh plan: he was heading into town on Thursday, and so was a mate. He would drive my car & trailer to Wentworth, and return with the mate.
Tues.5.4: We made a 7.30 start, cruised with care (12 km/h) to get a feel for the quantity of snags (virtually none), eased under the bridge with 30 cm clear (we had measured the clearance while driving north), then started zooming at 15 km/h. Burtundy Weir was recognised by warning signs, but the weir was way below the surface. This is a lonely river, particularly midweek. We saw a few moored boats with fishermen, but nothing else moving. We pulled up at 17.30, having covered about 150 km.
Wed.6.4: An easy half day to finish at Florence Annie, and each could spend the afternoon on computer work. The notorious tree at 62 km, which normally stops navigation (and at which I terminated on an earlier cruise from Wentworth) couldn't even be recognised. I suspect that I could get around it in low water; the distance markers run to 70 km, which may be the point at which the pool runs out at normal water.
Thurs.7.4: We set out at 7.30 for the 90 min run into Wentworth, and tied up at the main wharf. After the car & trailer arrived, we set out to explore Tucker Creek as far as we could. Normally it is to weedy for me to risk my prop. We had good water, and reached 5 km before I felt that snags and overhanging limbs would be too hard to avoid. We rounded up, returned and came out of the water. After dropping Chris, I headed for Robinvale. I had the boat in the water just before sundown, and spent the evening aboard, moored at the beautiful riverbank caravan park.
I could have got the boat through from Pooncarie to Menindee Weir, but that is about 270 km; I would have needed to carry fuel; I didn't have the time. The other adventure is the anabranch, which was navigated back in the days. It really needs a tinnie. It is only just available again as five weirs have been removed, as part of converting open channels to piped water.
I'll post about the Robinvale day separately.
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By rights, this section should have been part of a grand adventure. Instead, it was done in haste when I was anxious to get home and finish more late RNVs before heading to Africa.
In December, with the boat fully provisioned and the water up, I wanted to keep going, but couldn't: the water was over the weir; the navpass wasn't open; the lock was closed.
In January, the water was just as high. I had to launch at Wemen, leaving a gap.
By April, the water had dropped a metre, and the lock was open.
I left Wentworth in the early afternoon on Thurs.7.4, and reached Robinvale around 16.15. The nice ramp had a thick coating of slippery mud left by the receding water: I would get in ok, but might not be able to retrieve. Even with all-wheel drive, all wheels would be in mud.
I was in and moored at the adjacent caravan park by around 17.30. I didn't go to the pub for a meal: I had a precooked one aboard, and I had been at the pub only a month earlier.
My plans for Friday also had variations: two or three boats in tandem, making a return trip; just mine, but a return trip; just mine, but one way to Wement and retrieve. One owner was in Melbourne; the other had his boat under maintenance. I elected for a return trip, with Barry (owner of the related Moonshine) as deckie. I had miscalculated: I was working on 40 km each way from the lock to Wemen, quite manageable. Instead it was 50 km each way, and I was most unlikely to achieve that within locking hours. The duty lockmaster is there 8.00-16.00, with a first locking at 8.30, and a last at 15.45.
I set forth at 7.30 from 1124 km; collected Barry at Euston wharf, and rang the lockmaster (1118 km): we could go straight in at 8.15, and did. Only one gate was working, but there was no wind, and the current wasn't tricky. We were out at 8.25, and had to reach 1066 km. This is normally a tricky section for rock reefs, but we were on 6 m of water. I was soon zooming at 15 km/h. Barry is a local, and had lots of stories about landmarks and properties. At one cliff, he had done a training exercise with State Emergency Service, lowering a rescue boat over a cliff by a winchline, and raising it again. We reached Wemen at an encouraging hour, didn't halt, and set upriver again. Being able to hold 11 km/h against the current made all the difference, with an eta of 16.30. As we got closer, that advanced to 16.15. I am not a lover of mobiles, but today having one was useful. The lockmaster offered to stay for a 16.15 locking, and we were through. I dropped Barry at Euston, then saw a paddleboat at the caravan park as I headed to the boat ramp. PV Miralie, finally able to get under the bridge at Swan Hill, was heading home to Mildura. What I hadn't realised: on Thursday morning, while I was having fun at Wentworth, single-deck Swan Hill boats PV Iron Dry and PV Shay had gone through the lock, heading to Mildura and to Ned's Corner. If I had driven on the Victorian road, I might have made a rendezvous at Wemen. Barry drove to the ramp to help me out of the water. Despite asking the council that morning to clear the mud, nothing had happened. I spotted the car wheels into the ruts which I made while launching, and I got out ok. Miralie had shifted to the other bank for a rural night, but I had a pleasant time chatting with campers who had witnessed the boat action with interest.
On Saturday, I was off at 7.30, and had a leisurely drive to Merrigum to leave the boat with my brother, then was home at 19.00.
The 2010-11 season was now over, with the major achievement that I have now covered the whole Murray from Wellington to Swan Hill, plus Goolwa to the mouth; below Torrumbarry - Barmah Lake; and below Tocumwal - Yarrawonga. I have also covered the Darling (Wentworth - Pooncarie), Wakool (to above the Edwards confluence), Edwards (for a token kilometre); Campaspe (about 3 km); Goulburn (about 5 km from the Murray confluence, plus a major stretch at Nagambie and much of Lake Eildon). Other waterways have not been Murray-Darling ones.
I am tempted to go back into the water for Pevensey celebrations, particularly if Swan Hill boats come upriver, but it seems as if the key dates will be while I am in Africa.
Today there is only a limited selection: most photos were taken by Barry, and his cd is yet to arrive.
The bridge in the background was built only a few years ago. AFAIK, like the one at Mildura, it will clear a three-deck passenger boat. It replaced a lifting-span bridge which had been built as a combined rail & road one in the 1920s. The last lifting of the span was for the 2003 Randell Cadell fleet. The bridge and its approaches have been demolished, but the lifting span has been preserved at Robinvale railway station, in line with the tracks, and close to the visitor centre.
My earlier Darling cruise is at www.paddleducks.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=2475.msg13640#msg13640
On this new cruise, the water was lapping up the limb holding the 60 sign.
Roderick B Smith
Rail News Victoria Editor
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Continuing my plan of covering the whole Murray River, I collected Jessie II from Michael's shed on Wed.28.12, and launched at Deep Creek Marina (50 river km downstream of Echuca.
Thurs.29.12: 30 km downstream to Torrumbarry Weir (passing PV Run Riot), through the lock, and another 102 km to Koondrook (Victorian Bank), arriving at 18.00 for dinner at Royal Hotel. This town still has Arbuthnot sawmill in action, which had built PS Alexander Arbuthnot in the 1920s, regarded as the last traditional paddlesteamer built.
Fri.30.12: I was running a day early, so this was a work day, and I moved 2 km to Barham (NSW bank), for a drink at Barham Hotel, and dinner at Royal Hotel there. My deckie from Melbourne joined.
Sat.31.12: 112 km to Swan Hill, passing under lifting-span bridges at Barham, Murrabit & Swan Hill without needing them raised. The first part was slow (tricky snags), then from Murrabit (9.30) we had good water, but were slowed a little by having to follow a kayak marathon (93 boats plus coastguard protection). We called into the marina to see PV Temeraire, PV Black Shag and PV Iron Dry, then cruised to the boat ramp to link to the Dec.10 voyage, and up Marraboor River to see PV Pyap ad PV Gem. We moored at the caravan park. Iron Dry came around and moored adjacent for an early-evening party, but had to be back in its dock early because the owner had another event to attend. Pyap made several cruises through the evening, and looked great with decorative lighting. Marraboor River is the final stage of Little Murray River, an anabranch which forms Pental Island. Loddon River joins it to reach the Murray at the rear of the view of Iron Dry approaching Jessie II.
Sun.1.1: I returned by train to collect the car & trailer, then came out of the water.
Mon.2.1: I dropped the boat at Michael's shed and headed home.
PV Struggler is in a reasonable pool of water near Shepparton (Goulburn River). Michael could sneak it back on the low water (lots of bared snags), but is waiting for better water to continue upriver.