Sunday 6th October 2007. Andrew Parker
Newcastle harbour has come to life hosting the Mattara Maritime Festival. Thousands of novacastrians and visitors lined the foreshore to day for a Bevvy of first class aquatic and aerial entertainments. The sun shone brightly and the air was filled with laughter as the foreshore became the focus of the annual Mattara Maritime festival.
Powerboat racing featured prominently and there were several visiting ships in dock and inviting inspection. South of the harbour at the old customs wharf you were able to inspect two of the local built mine-hunters some of the newest in our fleet and the state of the art customs vessel looking similar in design to the stealth range of boats in military service nowadays. though it was the replica tall ships the James Craig and HMB Endeavor that caught my attention.
The barque James Craig is a restored hull that amazingly was built in 1874! This ship is a relic of the past having plied her trade until 1911 when she was retired due to competition from steamships. From 1911-25 she had various ignominious jobs as a 'hulk' for various minerals. Stripped of her masts she remained a shadow of her former self. She was abandoned and became beached in Tasmania in 1932 where she remained until 1972 when volunteers re-floated her and eventually towed her to Sydney where restoration work was finally completed in 1997. Wow what a journey after 23 times round 'the horn'. She now sails most weekends from her berth in Sydney harbour and her 21 sails are a sight to see. fantastic to have her in our home port.
HMB Endeavor is a piece of history now owned and operated by the Sydney maritime museum. She is not an original though her form and scale were taken from the original drawings, right down to the cabins occupied by Cook, Banks and Sporing. The barque is an amazing ship, she was commissioned by a member of the national maritime museum in 1987 Bruce Stannard and bankrolled by the then prominent businessman Alan Bond as a gift to Australia to celebrate our 200th anniversary or bi-centenary.
Bond-corp withdrew funding two years later in 1990 due to financial difficulties now infamous. The project was completed with impressive skill in 1992 as a herculean effort of all involved and an amalgamation of funding from Federal government, the West Australian government and private investors like John Singleton and Gary Weston. At one stage everyone involved in the project took a pay cut from the CEO down to the cleaner to get this project finished. They now tell me she takes a mere $5000 every single day to keep her ship shape. Endeavor is now owned by the Maritime museum and since her launch has safely sailed roughly 170,000 nautical miles or twice round the world. Her crew are experienced as are her volunteers and staff. She sails often out of Sydney and passage will cost you around $200-400 per day including berth.
Being out and around the harbour including on the harbour today I am amazed at the wonderful beauty that is 'our town'. I am proud to be a novocastrian and to participate in a great day like today was a gift. All those who organised today deserve a pat on the back, great to see so many of us down by our foreshore soaking up the rays of sun and the local entertainment. Life be in it!
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