Whiteout
Ferry Ongiara makes her way across the harbour with the winds gusting to 90Km/h. By the time she landed at Ward’s, winds were gusting over 100Km/h, forcing her to stay Island-side for over an hour until the winds subsided enough for a bumpy journey back to the city. That’s not fog by the way, that’s […]
Climate Change Schedule
A balmy 22°C October day shows the inadequacy of the winter schedule: a crowd of people Island-side prevents the passengers of Ongiara from disembarking. With only one boat running, some tourists had waited for three boats to try to leave the Island. Click image to view larger.
Side Loadin’
Wonders will never cease. Top: Ongiara, doing a work run, ties up beside Ward’s dock in a perfect position to side load, something that they seem incapable of doing in winter when the dock becomes unusable due to ice. Bottom: Something I’ve never seen before, two ferries (Ongiara and William Inglis) at Ward’s dock. Excuse […]
Unlucky Clover
Not much remains of one of Ongiara’s props after the winter of 2014-15: only one blade is left. Heavy harbour ice sheared all of the other blades clean off. The damage is much worse than this image, taken during the winter of 2011-12. Image provided by one of the deckhands.
Ongiara Warning
A whimsical sign adorns the new fencing (aka ‘The Cage’) at the Ward’s Island ferry docks.
Positive Negative
The changing face of Spring ice in the inner harbour reflects the darkness of an early morning and the lightness of an overcast midday.
Oh Beautiful Boat
Ongiara makes the first successful docking of 2015 at Ward’s Island, on March 18. This was a trial run without passengers, but heralds a potential return to service after four brutish weeks of commuting through the Island Airport.
Ongiara Drydock
Ongiara finally makes her way into drydock, almost a month behind schedule. Pumpout of the drydock was estimated at 1-2 hours, but ended up lasting over four hours, finishing up long after dark.
Harbour Dawn
After going through Hanlan’s and the airport for almost six weeks in 2004 the ice was pretty thick, and the City contracted out one of the largest tugs in the harbour to break up the ice as much as possible. After six weeks of relative silence the crunchy tinkling sound woke me up, in time […]
Conglomeration
Time warp back to 2004, and a sudden cold snap breaks the Ward’s dock hydraulics, trapping the Ongiara in place for several hours. The legendary ingenuity of the Island community came to the fore, assuming that having everyone run from one end of the boat to the other might shift it enough to get free […]
Porthole
Freezing snow clings to the wonderful (yet inaccessible) old wooden doors on the Ongiara in 2007.
Ongiara Gapping
An odd view of the Cove from the deck of the Ongiara, as some captain in 2001 takes her out the Eastern gap to open up an ice blockage.
Crossings
Ice sailing under winter clouds on the frozen inner harbour, as the Ongiara sails past. Click image to view larger.
Strengthsfinder
An early panoramic self-portrait, kayaking on a delightful ice shelf formed during ice-out in March of 2004 as the Ongiara rumbles past. Click image to view larger.
Cpt. Tom
A gem from the archives: it’s January 2004, and the temperature has just plummeted by over 20°C. Plastic shatters, pipes burst, and hydraulic lines fail. Without hydraulic pressure, the crew of the Ongiara are unable to raise the Ward’s Island dock, effectively trapping the ferry Island-side. For two hours everything was tried, including something enterprising […]
1830 to the City
The Ongiara streaks to the city at 6:30 P.M., punching through the January ice in this two-minute exposure.
Steamy Ongiara
The Ongiara makes her way through thick steam thrown up by an almost 30°C temperature drop.