Moving the Goal Posts
17/08/2013 09:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaTwo weeks ago I took advantage of a free ferry service to visit the port of Fremantle. It was a gorgeous sunny day and the perfect weather for going on a river cruise. An added attraction was landing right near the centre of the town right next to 3 very pretty tall sailing ships. They had arrived the previous week and had been open to the public on the weekend. With a bit of luck they’d be open for a couple of days before the scheduled departure on 3rd August.
Spent a good 30 minutes drooling over the gorgeousness of the three boats and looking for the opening times which turned out to be not that day but Friday and Saturday.
The free ferries were running the next day so it was the perfect excuse to come back. Unlike another sailing ship - the replica of the Endeavour which turned up in October 2011, they were not charging a ridiculous $18 to go onboard but only a (gold coin) donation. So much for the reputation of the Dutch for being mean and miserly.
Not only was it possible to peek and potter about these sailing ships but they even had bowls of pea or pumpkin soup for sale on board along with coffee and cakes.
They also had assorted paraphernalia such as books, t shirts, postcards and souvenir kind of stuff. It was all a bit expensive. Much preferred to spend five dollars on a bowl of soup and get to sit in the gorgeous bar with the olive green corner benches, art deco lanterns and port holes to peek out of.
That was on one boat - the Europa which from the outside was the largest and looked the grandest. But appearances can be deceiving. There were pots of soup and coffee awaiting downstairs in the Oosterschilde.
It was hard to believe that there could be so much space for a lounge downstairs. It was more like a ballroom or a Spiegeltent down there. Although built around 1918 or so there was a definite art deco feel to the decor. But then again all that room was at the expense of the cabins. The boats take paying passengers who sleep in cabins of two to five. Some of them were still vacant and decorated to tempt any wannabee sea farer. But still unadulterated spacious luxury compared to the hanging hammocks that the sailers had to make do with on the Endeavour replica
On the Endeavour they could fit 90 something sailors and even the Captain’s cabin was smaller than the space for the ordinary sailors on the Dutch ships
Between the two boats that were open ending up spending close to two hours between them. Being a weekday there was plenty of room and time for curious visitors. None of the sardine tin crush and endless queues that is usual for any weekend open boats.
Just been peeking at their Facebook photo collection and they literally were like sardine tins on their weekend open days. So so lucky to have turned up later
Was so impressed that I decided to come back the next day at 5pm to see the three of them set sail for the Abrolhos Islands in search of the Batavia ship wreck. But was constantly overhearing various crew members saying that they were leaving at 2pm on Sunday. Had other plans for that day and anyway would be able to catch them at the end of their 12 day tour before they set off for Adelaide.
So started following their website. The official departure date was 16th August. This was definitely the last chance to catch them. So made a special effort to go to Fremantle to see them departing. There was no actual departure time given on the website but it seemed unlikely they’d wait until dark. Checked both their official website and facebook page. They all stated 16th August as the departure date but gave no indication of time at all. Assuming that they have to take account of the weather and wind conditions but still surprised there was not even a provisional departure time
In the meantime another sailing ship had turned up. This one was the Nelson and only a 40 something year old baby compared to the three centurions. There seems to be an awful lot of sailing training ships out there these days. This one is unusual in that it is designed to be accessible for disabled people. Apparently they’ve found a way to get wheelchair bound people up amongst the sails and rigging.
That ship was open to the public and I made the most of the opportunity. Strangely a gate topped with barbed wire and nasty notices from customs separated the three Dutch ships from the others although it was possible to get to them by another path.
One of the crew members said they would be leaving at 9am on Saturday morning. Izzie was ever so peeved indeed. This is not the first time they are mucking around with the dates and nowhere on the website was there ever any mention that this was GMT or anything other than local time. So once again would be missing out on seeing the pretty little boats go off sailing as the first connecting bus from here does not even leave till 8.15 on Saturday mornings.
So there was no point in even trying. Would have a morning snoozing instead. Slinked onto their website just after 11.30am expecting to find pictures of them sailing off down south. So was ever so peeved indeed to see the announcement of a departure time of midday give or take an hour either way and a link to the official ports authority website for the exact details. And there it stated the three scheduled departure times of 13.00. Was seriously peeved. It was too late at that stage but would have been most useful to know this time yesterday or even at 9am this morning
It’s crazy to let these calendar capers taint the memory of some very magical hours spent on those Dutch boats at the start of the month. Here’s looking forward to whole fleets of them by the time the 400th anniversary of the Batavia shipwreck comes around in June 2029
In the end just lurked around the Lair and slinked down to the local shops in the afternoon. Tomorrow is another one of those university open days and another chance to see the wonderful Naked Scientist chemistry magic show. At least we know that will definitely be on at 10.30am Sunday 18th August in the Kim Beazley lecture theatre and again at 2pm for folks who like to snooze in the mornings
Must be off. Got lots of politics to catch up on. Only 20 sleeps left till the big day.
Spent a good 30 minutes drooling over the gorgeousness of the three boats and looking for the opening times which turned out to be not that day but Friday and Saturday.
The free ferries were running the next day so it was the perfect excuse to come back. Unlike another sailing ship - the replica of the Endeavour which turned up in October 2011, they were not charging a ridiculous $18 to go onboard but only a (gold coin) donation. So much for the reputation of the Dutch for being mean and miserly.
Not only was it possible to peek and potter about these sailing ships but they even had bowls of pea or pumpkin soup for sale on board along with coffee and cakes.
They also had assorted paraphernalia such as books, t shirts, postcards and souvenir kind of stuff. It was all a bit expensive. Much preferred to spend five dollars on a bowl of soup and get to sit in the gorgeous bar with the olive green corner benches, art deco lanterns and port holes to peek out of.
That was on one boat - the Europa which from the outside was the largest and looked the grandest. But appearances can be deceiving. There were pots of soup and coffee awaiting downstairs in the Oosterschilde.
It was hard to believe that there could be so much space for a lounge downstairs. It was more like a ballroom or a Spiegeltent down there. Although built around 1918 or so there was a definite art deco feel to the decor. But then again all that room was at the expense of the cabins. The boats take paying passengers who sleep in cabins of two to five. Some of them were still vacant and decorated to tempt any wannabee sea farer. But still unadulterated spacious luxury compared to the hanging hammocks that the sailers had to make do with on the Endeavour replica
On the Endeavour they could fit 90 something sailors and even the Captain’s cabin was smaller than the space for the ordinary sailors on the Dutch ships
Between the two boats that were open ending up spending close to two hours between them. Being a weekday there was plenty of room and time for curious visitors. None of the sardine tin crush and endless queues that is usual for any weekend open boats.
Just been peeking at their Facebook photo collection and they literally were like sardine tins on their weekend open days. So so lucky to have turned up later
Was so impressed that I decided to come back the next day at 5pm to see the three of them set sail for the Abrolhos Islands in search of the Batavia ship wreck. But was constantly overhearing various crew members saying that they were leaving at 2pm on Sunday. Had other plans for that day and anyway would be able to catch them at the end of their 12 day tour before they set off for Adelaide.
So started following their website. The official departure date was 16th August. This was definitely the last chance to catch them. So made a special effort to go to Fremantle to see them departing. There was no actual departure time given on the website but it seemed unlikely they’d wait until dark. Checked both their official website and facebook page. They all stated 16th August as the departure date but gave no indication of time at all. Assuming that they have to take account of the weather and wind conditions but still surprised there was not even a provisional departure time
In the meantime another sailing ship had turned up. This one was the Nelson and only a 40 something year old baby compared to the three centurions. There seems to be an awful lot of sailing training ships out there these days. This one is unusual in that it is designed to be accessible for disabled people. Apparently they’ve found a way to get wheelchair bound people up amongst the sails and rigging.
That ship was open to the public and I made the most of the opportunity. Strangely a gate topped with barbed wire and nasty notices from customs separated the three Dutch ships from the others although it was possible to get to them by another path.
One of the crew members said they would be leaving at 9am on Saturday morning. Izzie was ever so peeved indeed. This is not the first time they are mucking around with the dates and nowhere on the website was there ever any mention that this was GMT or anything other than local time. So once again would be missing out on seeing the pretty little boats go off sailing as the first connecting bus from here does not even leave till 8.15 on Saturday mornings.
So there was no point in even trying. Would have a morning snoozing instead. Slinked onto their website just after 11.30am expecting to find pictures of them sailing off down south. So was ever so peeved indeed to see the announcement of a departure time of midday give or take an hour either way and a link to the official ports authority website for the exact details. And there it stated the three scheduled departure times of 13.00. Was seriously peeved. It was too late at that stage but would have been most useful to know this time yesterday or even at 9am this morning
It’s crazy to let these calendar capers taint the memory of some very magical hours spent on those Dutch boats at the start of the month. Here’s looking forward to whole fleets of them by the time the 400th anniversary of the Batavia shipwreck comes around in June 2029
In the end just lurked around the Lair and slinked down to the local shops in the afternoon. Tomorrow is another one of those university open days and another chance to see the wonderful Naked Scientist chemistry magic show. At least we know that will definitely be on at 10.30am Sunday 18th August in the Kim Beazley lecture theatre and again at 2pm for folks who like to snooze in the mornings
Must be off. Got lots of politics to catch up on. Only 20 sleeps left till the big day.
