July 2023

Kerne has remained in Canning Dock throughout the month with the crew giving conducted tours around the vessel when members are in attendance. One very interesting recent visitor was an Australian gentleman and his wife who are members of the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney harbour which amongst its exhibits is the Steam Tug ‘Waratah’. It just so happened that in the mid 1970’s we were befriended by an Australian gent by the name of Peter Jones who was having an extended visit to the UK and he joined us as a temporary volunteer. He described that in Sydney he and others had embarked on a project to restore Waratah. Somewhat larger than Kerne at 105ft, she was built in 1902 by the Australian Government Dockyard and fitted with steam reciprocating engines built by Ross and Duncan of Govan on the Clyde. During Peter’s time in the UK, we were able to discuss common issues that both they and us had to confront in preserving these ancient vessels and I am pleased to report that, like Kerne, Waratah is still going strong. Whilst being in Canning provides the opportunity to display the vessel to the public and for visitors to get a taste of how life was aboard coal-fired steamships, having limited vehicle access does restrict our ability to carry out certain larger jobs aboard. That said, we have finally commissioned the new wind generator. The unit we had relied upon for a considerable number of years had thrown in the towel so rather than just replace with a similar unit, we decided to upgrade the whole system. The new wind generator unit has been re-located to a position at the aft end of the Engine Room casing on the port side. This move was designed to avoid possible damage when bunkering coal, as the previous unit was located adjacent to the top bunker lids and had in the past been damaged when craning the large rubble sacks of coal aboard. This move necessitated a total re-wire in new steel conduit and the addition of a state-of-the-art regulator and a new set of batteries. The output of the system is greater than its predecessor and more than adequate for our needs, even when underway. We have also designed the wind generator, its support and stays to be hinged and de-mountable as required if access is needed to the towing hooks or if we wish to revert the vessel to ‘original’ appearance. Down below the various pipes etc. to complete the installation of the General Service Pump have been installed leaving only smaller items such as cylinder drain cocks to be fitted. It can all be tested when we are next in steam, which at present looks like the weekend of 20th/21st August when we plan to return to Sandon Dock, so we can crack on with the installation of the new boiler lagging.