A slow boat to China ?

[Lucky_Phill]

A Slow Boat to China


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Well, not exactly but it could have been. A fellow Ausfisher ‘ BrewGuru “ invited me to be a part of the crew that was to take his 46ft Timber ship MV Waiben from Scarborough to Mooloolaba for a re-fit. I could not pass up the chance to step aboard a ship that is steeped in history. Built in 1949 here in Brisbane by Norman Wright and used for a few purposes including a Pilot Vessel, this is one interesting ship.

The day had arrived and the weather Gods must have known they we wanted an easy cruising day, so they turned the fan down to low and gave us less than 10 knots of breeze all trip. Photos below will confirm that.

I reckon the MV in MV Waiben stands for Magic Vessel….. this is one nice rig. From the moment Ed turned the key to ignite the Lees diesel, she sounded and felt great. With a nice big compass, a current chart and a big screen Lowrance 7500 Globalmap to guide us, we were on our way just after 7am.

Heading north we went around the top side of Gilligans Island, over the banks and then 330* for 13 mile. What a glorious day. The crew consisted of Skipper Ed, Navigator Phill, First mate Greg, Secretary and great tea maker, Karen and of course there was “ Shakey “. Shakey was in awe of the day and scenery as he had not seen Bribie etc from the water before. I think the 7.30am Steak and Eggs ( XXXX Gold ) did the trick for him and it was great to see someone appreciate the scenes that some of us see all the time but probably do not appreciate ourselves. :-/


We hit a top speed of 7.99 knots, but averaged 7.5.. for the trip and that was into the slight NW headwind. The trip lasted about 5 hours and I enjoyed every minute of that experience. I even managed to get a hold of the Brass Steering wheel for a while and guide the ship around Brays Rock and up past the sunnie coastline. 8-) ;D


The ship itself looks great with a recent exterior re-finish and to Ed’s credit, he is doing the inside. New electronics, carpets, wiring, consoles, fridges, etc…. at one stage I stood on the foredeck and listened to the diesel purring away… what a terrific sound.

We arrived at the marina and Ed’s maneuvering skills came to the fore and produced a copybook docking in a limited berthing space… nice work indeed.

Thanks again Ed for the invite and look forward to seeing the MV Waiben back in Brissie all pretty on the inside. Good to meet, Greg, Karen and Shakey.

Cheers Phill

[Simmo2]

Ha!
What refit??!!
She looks gorgeous as she is!!
Nice pix.

[boatboy50]

Phil,

I take it that is the same MV Waiban which serviced Brampton Island off Mackay for many years in the year 2000 era?

Had many nights on the turps aboard cruising the area and enjoying the sunsets up there.

Lovely vessel.

Regards

Darren

[Lucky_Phill]

Yes, Darren.... one and the same....;D 8-)







.Phill

[finding_time]

Nice boat!!! Nicer Ocean!!! Forgot what that LOOKS and FEELS like!!

Ian

[BrewGuru]

Thanks Guys, I do love and cheris the old girl, she turns 60 next year, she was built as the first government pilot vessel on Thursday Island after WW11, her first job was replacing the navigational beacons in the notorius Torress Straits, which had been removed so the Japanese could not find there way in. She served there for 25 years and she was then cruised to Mackay to serve as the first pilot vessel based at Hay point as it was the new coal loading facility. She was due for major repairs by one of the government approved shipwrights, (they got knocked around by the bigger steel ships), the vessel was deemed to be uneconomical to repair, so the shipwright was ordered to burn her on his property as it was unseaworthy. The shipwright offered a $100.00 for the old girl, which the government officials scoffed at. The shipwright the issued a proforma invoice on what it would cost to remove the debris of the burnt vessel from his dock, the bill was for $500.00, the shipwright got his MV WAIBEN for the $100.
It took him 11 years in part time work to get her back in shape. He won a contract with P&O which owned Brampton Island and operated charters doing sunset cruises,fishing,diving and boom net cruises. That relationship finished in 2005, when the shipwright retired and had plans to live aboard the historic vessel, wifey had other plans she wanted to purchase a 4WD and cruise around on land for a bit, to my good fortune she was put on the market in 2006 and I purchased her and cruised down from Mackay Easter 2007.....what a trip!!!
thanks for the post Phil, it is nice to hear someone else blow the Waiben's trumpet apart from me.
The plan is to cruise her up to Thursday Island this time next year for her 60th, I recently spent 9 days up there and the locals are planning a great birthday for her.

[BrewGuru]

Forgot to mention: she is registered as an Australian Ship, launched in Cairns now transferred to Brisbane and she is in the process of being registered with the Australian National Maritime Museum as a living legend.

[Horse]

Thats a fine lady you have there Brew. There is something special about the old girls. Our previous vessel was a 35' motor sailer "Tama Hoi". She was 1948 vintage. Our current one is a spring chicken being built in the 60's
Great to see her in such good nick and she should see another few generations of boaters

Cheers

Neil

[tin can marlin]

One hell of a good looking boat you have got there.

[BrewGuru]

Phil,

I take it that is the same MV Waiban which serviced Brampton Island off Mackay for many years in the year 2000 era?

Had many nights on the turps aboard cruising the area and enjoying the sunsets up there.

Lovely vessel.

Regards

Darren
Do you have any dates? I also have the photo album of crew and passengers for those years.

Ed

[Noelm]

a lot of "young" people do not know the charm of a good "old" timer Boat/ship/vessel there is something to be said for the low speed pace, it kind of gets into your body and makes you slow down as well, seems to be a whole lot better than the rip, tear bust boats we all have now (me included) I have owned a couple of that type of boat before and it is a great feeling, a lot will think it is slow, but I can tell you, if you can maintain a good steady pace for hours, the miles just slide by, sure an ouboard might do 30knots, but then you are doing 20 one minute, 5 the next, then 25 as you throttle on and off for the chop, but a good Boat like this just pushes on and slowly wears you down (remember the hare and the tortiose??) the hum/rhythm of the Diesel seems to just lull you to sleep, after a while you do not even hear it, and indeed, if it stops, you soon snap back to life again, good luck with it all, enjoy it while it is still a "passion" and many happy cruises await you I hope.

[Noelm]

geees just got all misty eyed and remembered my Fathers old boat from when I was a little tacker, he had a 38 footer, with a HUGE 33HP Diesel in it, it had air start, a compressor was driven from the engine when it was running to fill an air Bottle/tank sort of thing, the Motor did a mind buzzing 150RPM full speed, and a racing speed of almost 8 knots, the Engine Flywheel weighed in at almost 3/4 ton, once it got spinning there was no stopping it, facinationg thing it was to me, I would sit and watch it for ages, chugging away down below, I seem to remember it being a twin cylinder "Fairbanks Morse" or a name like that anyway, we would just head out, Dad at the tiller (they always had a tiller as well as a wheel) and did not matter what the Sea was like, the old girls (the boat that is) speed and attitude never changed, it was a pretty skinny thing from my memeory, Dad used to reckon it would "roll the eyes out of you head" in a beam sea, byt still never fazed anyone, still makes my laugh at the "older generations" saying about things and the matter of fact way of life then.

[PADDLES]

that is a beautiful boat bg. perfect for life in the slow lane.

[BrewGuru]

The latest news, the old smelly 40 year old yanmar auxillary which ran an ernormous 2500 litre freezer unit as well as an 800 litre snap freezer, the deck hose and had 12 squillion hours under its belt (ran more hours than the main engine) had finally died with the BrewGuru on the last fishing trip popping his head out of the lazarette covered in diesel and oil had decided she had to go!
That has now been achieved and it has all been pulled apart and removed from the Waiben's tomb like lazarette.
The lazarette has all been cleaned, painted, LED lights installed and now a sensational storage area. Batteries have all been removed from the engine room and installed in the old 2500 litre ex freezer unit, the old snap freezer area has now been turned into a day fridge and a small freezer unit all 12 volt, deck hose has been replace by a johnson 12 volt system..awsome! Onshore power has been installed, now waiting on a new DC switchboard including red LED to indicate status and new classic instrumentation from amsterdam. Motor on the trip developed a leak in the lift pump and what I thought was a leakiy mainrear seal (as advised from the previous owner of 26 years) was a leaky gasket on the sump.Top decks repainted, a bit of custom switch boarding and carpentry.
The old girl will be around in pristine condition and a deep part of Queensland History as long as I can support her

[magnum455]

What sort of cost per year to mantain her??

[BrewGuru]

Great Question, she wasn't in bad shape when I bought her, but some things had been a little neglected, because my goal is to cruise the Australian Coastline with her initial from Brisbane to Thursday island I want to make sure everything is ship shape and good working order, so I have spent bucket loads of money getting her ready to my standard, once that has been achieved, every 12/ 18 months antifouling, she has been coated in all two coat polyurethane and epoxy, so just general maintenance from here on in as any other moored vessel

[Lancair]

BrewGuru,
Were you anchored at Blakeslys over the first weekend in Nov, last year ? I was camping with a group of three family's, with two boats, a red/white fibreglass Cruisecraft left anchored at night and a small tinny we beached at night.
Im sure it was your lovely ship we were all admiring as it sat at anchor directly off from our campsite. What a treasure. Well done on the refit, awesome job.

Andrew

[BrewGuru]

Lancair,
Bugger! there must be another couple of good looking old girls out there.
My girl was down at Dave Tripcony's Slip at brekky Creek getting wet blasted back to bare timber, I got her back 1st week in December.

There are two sister ships around one is the "Mary" which was a pilot vessel around Bundy and the Mary River back in the 50's same size but somewhat smaller in regard to head height etc a pretyy boat the other is the "Leilane" its history I don't know because the name was change somewher through ownership, I have been told, a beautiful vessel it was sold in Brisbane about 2 years ago to someone in Sydney, it is back on the market, I have seen it it on
www.boatpoint.com.au (http://www.boatpoint.com.au)

[TheRealAndy]

I would really love to come take a look at the old girl one day. Whats the chances?

I love these old boats. My old man was telling me that the SS Forceful is going to be retired soon as they volunteers cant raise enough funds to keep the boat in survey. Apparently the hull is in poor shape and needs some plates replacing. Real shame, I have been few a few trips on that boat and everytime it simply amazes me.

http://bayjournal.com.au/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=898&Itemid=46

[BrewGuru]

Give me a PM Andy and I will organise it, she will be finished at the shipyard in 2 weeks, I will then cruise her down from Mooloolaba and back to her berth at Scarborough

[disorderly]

Brewguru..do you intend to forewarn us of your arrival at different ports on your northern journey??? ...

I'm sure it would be fantastic for me and my kids to see the lovely old girl chug by...

Mate, you are a dying breed and its a real credit to you for keeping the old girl in good condition and to take her on such a journey along the QLD coast.
I'm sure you must be so excited for the times ahead..some good times to be had for sure.

Scott

[Dezzer]

Gday Guru

Is Waiben the indigenous name of T.I.? Sounds familiar and makes sense if she was commissioned to service the island.

Beautiful old boat, may she steam along for another 60 years.

[BrewGuru]

Brewguru..do you intend to forewarn us of your arrival at different ports on your northern journey??? ...

I'm sure it would be fantastic for me and my kids to see the lovely old girl chug by...

Mate, you are a dying breed and its a real credit to you for keeping the old girl in good condition and to take her on such a journey along the QLD coast.
I'm sure you must be so excited for the times ahead..some good times to be had for sure.

Scott
Yeah Scott I am in the midst of throwing a Plan together today, I was hoping to leave in July August next year but other experianced long term cruisers have told me the notorius trade winds in the Torres Straits carry through until November, so the plan is to now leave in late October, I will post on Ausfish my where abouts as I travel .

[BrewGuru]

Gday Guru

Is Waiben the indigenous name of T.I.? Sounds familiar and makes sense if she was commissioned to service the island.

Beautiful old boat, may she steam along for another 60 years.

Absolutely correct, Waiben is the indigenous name for TI , the meaning is dry place, the Waiben was built to service Waiben (Thursday Island) after WWII.
It is amazing the amount of people I have met that, travelled to school on the old girl or travelled across to TI for work from Horn Island.
I am picking up a local guy in Mackay on my way up the coast that went to the school picnics on the vessel and when he left school he was a shipwright and worked on the vessel, he is excited about the opportunity.

[Poodroo]

Phill I had to check the thread out just to make sure you weren't planning a trip to China in Skanky Hoe. Thank goodness it was on Ed's lovely vessel which I'd also have jumped at the opportunity to board and enjoy the moment. Green with envy indded you lucky bugger. You're living up to your name now mate.

Poodroo

[Dirtysanchez]

Agree with Poodroo, an opportunity to go on a classic vessel like that is GOLD.
Nice boat, nice thread, nice photos
Thanks

[BrewGuru]

MV Waiben if all goes to plan will be ready by the end of next week, I suspect it will be the week after we can take up to fifteen people (It is liscened to take 25 0n a day trip) I only have 15 life jackets.
I will be taking 4 people up with me, in the jeep with room for another two, so let me know, others that can get themselves up to Mooloolaba on their own steam and get to where they want to go from Scarborough, let me know.
Ed