Night Boat

 It is not often we see the Tassie boat going passed in Winter. The schedules change with the seasons and maybe we are just rugged up inside at night.  Although we are noticing slightly longer evenings as the Sun heads back towards us for the last five weeks. The acoustics were so good that the ding ding ding of an announcement came to us across the water. For a second there we thought that the new replacement boat was in action but those are not due to start service for another few months. 

HMAS Rankin

A neighbour of mine from the first few weeks that we moved here was discussing the naval Pier across the way and how he had observed Navy boats and ships docking there including a submarine. I have been waiting and boat spotting since then for something similar.  Sure enough the unmistakable form of a surfaced submarine was chooffing along and taking its leisurely time about it. The Navy wern't saying much but it has been hanging around Geelong for a few days.  I was expecting it to dock at the newly refurbished pier but not so far.  Submarines are boats not ships you landlovers. I wonder what you have to do to get a submarine named after you.

What floats your boat

 Most people retire to their garden after hitting the road for a while, not this guy. We have seen this boat from time to time over the years and I have mentioned him in previous posts.   However one of the neighbours just had to ask, so he paddled over to have a chat. He has lived on the boat by himself for 15 years and travelled a lot further than Australia in that time.  It seems that age and expensive fuel are now keeping him to Australia only.   You would have to be confident in your boat and another thing, how do you take a dog for a walk when it is living on a boat?

MV Kele II

Tassie Boat Saga

 Tasmania IV has arrived in Geelong last weekend and Tasmania V is still in Finland somewhere, trying to workout where it can be stored or even used for something else, while waiting for its turn.  The boats themselves will be a nice new thing to try, but it is the infrastructure that has brought the delays. You don't have to be a genius to work out if you are building new much bigger boats then does the spot they park need attention too.  This was not thought about until much later. Even in Geelong the temporary birth at Point Henry needs $2 million to install bollards for it. So now it is going to be moved around between laying at anchor, docked at the ferry terminal and anywhere else out of the way.  We did not see it go passed but the conditions have cleared and the atmospherics sharpened to the point where I can spy it from the deck. We will try a bike ride to get a closer look at some stage.

the strip of land in between is the Point Henry road

Watching the Watcher

 If a van was parked outfront for four days you might think what is going on here.  We have had a boat directly out front for the last four or five days.  Once upon a time we were constrained by a small van at holiday times but at least you could get outside and run around.  I have seen some movement like shaking out the laundry etc so they must just be taking an extended rest break from all that flitting about the ocean. It is a reasonable size cruiser named Poseidon and has come from the Gippsland Lakes, maybe doing the big lap. 

In the Navy Update

There is a bit more action across the way at the Point Wilson pier.  It seems to be the same type of activity as previous whereby a ship with heavy duty cranes is unloading heavy duty loads.  So far it has been the work horses of the sea that have docked there since the pier was reopened. They stay for a week or so then head off.  

Big Rig

 We see a lot of different things sail passed our door but this has to be the biggest yet. A  gynormous platform casually sailing up the bay this morning. They have there own method of propulsion which must be under there somewhere. There were a couple of pilot boats but no super tugs pushing or pulling.  It seems Geelong can service the really big stuff as well. 

Corio Bay Obs

Even during COVID time one thing that has not stopped here are the large boats. The small boats are put away but not the big ones. The Siem Amethyst is an ocean going tug but it was zig zagging all over the place for a week or so.  It may have been a survey of some sort to do with the Spirit of Tassie moving its base to Geelong in the next two years.  I expect the channel will need some work especially at the shallow Geelong end if the S of T is going to dock at a new pier.

Also across the way, the opposite is true of the planes. They are going nowhere and I can count at least 30 of them parked at Avalon just waiting to be set free.

Whale Watch

I have had some time to check out this package of photos supplied by the on board photographer who accompanied us on the Whale Watch tour.  I have my own video as well but have not got onto that as yet.  Not sure exactly how the photographer was able to personalise the show as we are in it a few times and no one else.  It was easier to get us by ourselves as we perched over the bow wave and had the best seat in the house. Whales were swimming below our feet.

WhaleSong

We booked a boat once called Whalesong but it cancelled on us due to heavy weather. Today we got on board Gemini for a two hour cruise.  This was non stop whale action. They are saying that the whale interactions are increasing each year and that at the moment the whale fornication is off the scale.  Hooray!  I have taken some video but it is like filming a bobbing cork from a bobbing cork.  The breeding season is happening now during January and February then its back to the feeding grounds in Alaska.

Tail Slapper

Up ya Spout

We had another round of snorkelling off Black Rock.  There is a lot of wave action here. There were colourful fish and some corals. The most striking thing is the movement of the sand on the bottom when the swells hit. The beaches here are steep which means the shore break is hard hitting.  This is tricky for getting in and out with snorkel gear. This was all before lunch. We spent the rest of the day by the pool. We used the slides, the pools, the bar and the bird cage. 

get out bikini photo bomber

Daio Southern Cross

The weather has cooled so we are inside.  The passing ship parade continues. This monster is a wood chip carrier for paper production.  Not sure if it is dropping off or picking up but we do export wood chips.  The ship tracker is a live feed site so everyone knows where you are and where you are going.  I did my swim yesterday morning before the storm came. Visibility was good but I would say the grass has been shaken and stirred after last night.

Marinetraffic.com

Big Ships

We get all manner of ships at all times but this one was honking his horn earlier this morning.  But those very small fishermen get up early as well.  The Bay was a flat sheet so I just had to try the swim again today and for the first time I remembered the ear plugs.  My friend the banjo shark was there again snuffling around the grassy stuff.

Towing the Line or Two

The sun is out and so are the boats.  This time there was also more towing but of the inflatable style. I guess the design is such that the ropes never cross over. You hope.  I was also hoping I had finished going to the Doc for prostate follow ups.  He says everything is going great so we'll make them six monthly appointments now. Groan.  Before we make them yearly! groan groan.  And we will need more pre-visit blood letting each time. More groan.  I did my swim this afternoon with very clear water.  The resident large ray was in his usual spot. They have tails and dorsal fins like sharks but no need to wet yourself.

Boat Action

Today's big event was the council street sweeper cleaning up our gutters. Now I just need to get them to mow our lawns. 🌝  fat chance.  I did cobble together some videos today that had been storing up on my camera.  These occurred over the last couple of weeks. I missed the flaming flare scenario as I was watching thru the telescope not the video camera.

000

We just made our first emergency services call to 000 for a Corio Bay incident. We were on the balcony and could here calls for help.  I located a small speed boat obviously disabled as the two occupants were waving and gesticulating. There was another boat only a few hundred metres away but seemed to be ignoring them.  That's when the flare was set alight so that's when we rang the 000. The people on the other boat now got the message that help was required.  We were asked a lot of questions about where and how many and was it taking on water.  In the end a tow was effected and we rang back the 000 to cancel the call.   The advantages of a powerful telescope were evident here. I could describe the scene in detail to the emergency call desk.  We have witnessed other incidents where capsizing has occurred but were able to extricate themselves but this is our first actual involvement.

Ship Spotting

I have been in charge the last few days so everyone here has been doing what I say.  I got someone like myself onto the plant watering which gave me time for window gazing. I spied the Triton SeaHawk going past. There are web pages that track ships and will also find ships and pinpoint their current position on a map. It told me it was docking near Geelong at 7:30 pm. It is a bulk cargo carrier built in 2011.   Not sure what the upright structure is for.  I have heard of train spotting and there was a guy back in the old MMBW days who would run outside trying to photograph a passing plane so he could identify it. Or you could just go to Air Traffic School and get paid to learn about planes.

Orchidist

Triton SeaHawk

Ashley Maree

This is a squid boat with enough lighting to be seen from space.  It seems the squids come to the surface following the food trail that is attracted by the lights. These globes are $400 each and they power them all up at the same time.  This boat can take a month out on the seas to fill with squid and will roam far south of Tassie to do it.

Cap'n Salty Dog and the Ashley Maree

Window dramas

There is always something going on out of our windows. This time a boat was capsizing but it is a rerightable style of small yacht maybe a sailing dinghy.  I took some photos but then I started filming as this was going on for ages. In the end three boats were involved, two of which capsized. During all of this there were various manoeuvres where sailors were swapping onto passing boats at speed. 

sitting on the edge

Mussel Boat

I trained the spy scope on the Mussel boat for about 30 mins. There was a bit of rain about and overcast so I could have picked a better lit day to spy on them. It is a four man operation and looks to be very physical.  A lot of attention was being paid to the large blue barrels, as in scraping them down and hosing them down.  Not sure if that is because shellfish are attached but most likely to clean them up for better flotation.  Winches haul up some type of net which seems to hang at the edge of the boat but I could not pick out if shell fish collection was going on.  I will try again on a better day.