Baragoola 9th & 10th July 2011

In attendance: Nick, Peter, Geoff E, Geoff L, Ernie, Glen, Jimmy & Lance Visitors: None This week our income was $80 and outgoings were $0. Don’t forget that all donations over $2 are now

tax deductible.

Don’t forget our AGM is on board Baragoola on Saturday the 30th – on that day the boat will only be

open to members.

Next scheduled working day is next Saturday the 16th of July. You are welcome to drop down during the

week as well as there’ll be one or two people about most days (check first). If you’re coming don’t

forget to bring lunch – we provide tea, coffee, cold drinks and fresh fruit to all volunteers on board.

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.

Earlier in the week Glen, Ernie & Jimmy were on the boat. Ernie was at work on one of the aft propulsion

motors. One of these has recently been operated and work was done to continue the cleanup of this

piece of equipment.

This continued work is required to bring Baragoola back to full operational status – of course the

amazing thing is that this equipment, which hasn’t operated in around thirty years, is still quite

functional. Testament to the quality of materials and build from 1948 when this equipment was

purchased for Baragooola’s sister Balgowlah.

Equally we are fortunate that Barrenjoey/North Head cost the company so much – as a result of that

conversion they could not afford to convert Balgowlah and everything was stored away for some ten

years or so until they could afford to do the work on Baragoola. In the meantime of course, Balgowlah

was unfortunately broken up. But for a quirk of fate, we might have been restoring Balgowlah!

Ernie at work on one of the propulsion motors

A special thanks to Jimmy who put in a lot of hard work on the base of No. 1 Gardner this week with the

air chisel and needle gun. The rusty dirty block was cleaned up considerably and allowed Peter to go on

with the painting of it this weekend.

Jimmy hard at work

Freshly painted auxiliary generator attached to No. 1 Gardner

Saturday started early – we had plans to do some patching and needed clear and smooth water to do

this. The patch that was supposed to go on is a proper metal plate to replace a very slipshod wooden

one put on by Maritime before we purchased the vessel. As luck would have it, this wasn’t done and is

now slated for next weekend. The reason for that is because of its location – the aft void. Once the guys

got down there they decided to clean out the compartment which has had twenty odd years to collect

quite a bit of detritus. With three (and sometimes four) in the void, a bucket brigade was set up and

quite a bit of crud was removed – around half. Peter also wanted to check the strum box for the on

board pump in this hold and apart from a small hole in the pipe he declared it ready for use. We will

remove the remainder of the detritus in this hold and the thoroughly clean it out and rust proof the

area.

There is some remediation work to do in here as well- because this is one of the ‘leading edges’ of the

vessel it has borne the brunt of everything for the last 90 years – water, accidents and neglect have

taken their toll and it shows – multiple doubler plates (and triplers in one case) shows how much

punishment the bows used to take.

Fortunately though there was only a very tiny amount of water in here – again due to rain that had

percolated down over time.

The patching here is necessary as this end contains the water tank and a small diesel tank and before

these are filled (thus lowering that end) we wish to ensure that the waterline area of the hull is in good

condition and that no leaks will occur.

Interior of the aft void prior to work commencing

Work in the area was called off around lunchtime as it was filthy and hard and the guys needed a break.

After lunch everyone headed off to their favourite areas – Ernie was in his “office” tinkering with the

electrical of the propulsion system, Geoff attacked the last area of the hull in the generator flat that

needed cleaning and rust proofing – this is now ready for painting – the entire hold has been cleaned

and treated – two down and four to go! The new needle gun makes the work go much quicker, though it

is much noisier now for the other guys!

Geoff L continued his valuable work on cleaning back floor plates. There’s now a goodly collection of

these that have been chipped, rust treated and painted ready to go back downstairs and into their old

places.

These are important, they add immensely to the safe working conditions of the generator flat and

engine room. Ernie has also started taking up the plates in the battery compartment and giving them the

same treatment, I noticed today that the frames they sit on have been descaled and well saturated in

Rustmaster.

Once painted those ones will go back into place – perhaps a good idea to do the rest of the white paint

on the hull in that section as well so that this compartment can move closer to completion.

There’s always so much work to be done.......

Looking aft along the propeller shaft......

.... while Ernie works above

This area is one of my personal favourites on the boat as it shows of the beautiful curves of the ribs and

the sharp lines of the vessel so well. And of course everyone loves a curvy lady!

Geoff working on the hull in the generator flat

Nick and I decided to clean up the forward end of the upstairs accommodation. This area in particular

has largely been ignored because of the rain water issues here. However with the roof improvements

this has now changed and Nick has already completed painting the stairwell. This weekend we cleaned

away the plastic that had been covering the floor and got rid of the rubbish from the area. As well, the

old seating was cleared away readied for restoration and painting of the sides of the staircase in cream

(two coats) was done.

Forward end, upper deck

The Edwardian staircases are one of the showpiece areas on the ferry and a lot of work has gone into

these very fiddly areas – woodwork to be polished and three of the primary paint colours in use on

them. In many ways these staircases define the classic look of the six Binngarra type boats and the

Scottish twins Curl Curl & Dee Why . This scheme has not been seen since 1972.

Forward stairs looking aft

There’s some work required up here to repair the deckhead – in the above images you can see where

water used to come down and as a result some replacement timber work needs to be done. We are

fortunate in that it isn’t a great deal and it could have been worse if Peter hasn’t been so diligently

working to repair the roof.

We do need more wood workers so if you have some skills in this direction please feel free to volunteer

your services.

Nick and I were back on the boat this morning and it was quite windy – far more so than yesterday. We

decided to hang a few more tyres off the side to protect our lady for being bashed to death on the

dolphins – we do need more so if you have any old ones laying around in the shed we’d be happy take

them off your hands.

A temporary roof was finally put in place over our main mid ships entrance, this will stop rain from

hitting the deck directly here – as well some new ply board was put down to cover and protect the deck

in this area. It will also mean that any rain that manages to get on it will no longer pool and percolate

downstairs but will instead run off to exit the boat via the scuppers.

Some essential maintenance was done with parts of the lower deck being cleaned up, swept and tools

and other effects put away. We also tidied up the store room and gave it a thorough sweep out.

Afternoon saw us turn our attention to two of the original seats. We know where these belonged as all

the remaining seats are marked with their location and these two are a pair that goes in a prominent

position.

These are old and have suffered quite a bit of damage due to being left out on the weather decks at

some stage. Both needed repairing to give them their strength back and they will also need some new

“feet” so that they can safely be used.

One of the seats prior to clean up

Nails and screws to hand the rickety old seats were made strong again – in the condition shown above

you wouldn’t trust a butterfly to land on it and have them stay upright!

Then sanding took place to remove years of dirt and damage to expose wood underneath. Old and dry

but not beyond redemption. Several coats of varnish later and two very different seats emerged. These

were then remounted on the funnel casing where they originally came from and finally you can get to

see what the ferry looked like when it was fully occupied by these types of seats.

Both were tested (once the front legs were propped temporarily) and they proved to be quite sturdy

and surprisingly comfortable.

The pair of seats restored to their original position

That’s it for this week – don’t forget you can keep up with all the latest on our forums at

http://www.savethebaragoola.com/forum/index.php and you can see our old newsletters at

http://www.savethebaragoola.com/works.html

There will be people attending every day this week – call ahead if you want to come down and give a

hand or have a look around, otherwise our next scheduled working day is next Saturday; pick up from

the usual points at Waverton or Greenwich.

Panorama of the generator flat

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 $25.80 including delivery – available now.

SS Binngarra (class vessel), white coffee mugs.

Price $25.80 including delivery – available now.

MV Baragoola – Baragoola near the end of her public life, white coffee mug.

Price $25.80 including delivery – available now – limited edition.

Coming soon will be a range of mugs featuring the current four Manly ferries. The price for these is the

same as the current stock and you can pre-order if you wish.

Specify which you want – Freshwater, Narrabeen, Queenscliff or Collaroy.

These should arrive between four to six weeks from now.

Designs will be the same as our current range.

And also coming soon – a new range of calendars similar to those released last year but for the financial

year 2011-2012.

These are printed on high quality thick glossy A4 card and will feature several views of the internal and

exterior of Baragoola. Only twenty were printed last time and they went quickly so it would be a good

idea to pre-order now to avoid disappointment!

Price will be $30 including postage.